Time to Love
by Jimbop
Summary: How about a trip back to 1918 with Bella and Jake? Sound like fun? Lets go. Bella and Jacob, taking up the story early in New Moon, stumble upon a way to time travel. But what effects will their actions have on the past, present and future?
1. Chapter 1

**You know I don't own the characters, and so do I! Anyway, let's have a go at time travel. Just remember I'm a science nerd. Let's try and keep it within the realms of science. Happy reading.**

Chapter 1 - jumping straight in

"Swee-eet." He made the word into two syllables.

"Wait a sec—are you legal yet? When's your birthday?"

"You missed it," he teased, narrowing his eyes in mock resentment. "I'm sixteen."

"Not that your age ever stopped you before," I muttered. "Sorry about your birthday."

"Don't worry about it. I missed yours. What are you, forty?"

I sniffed. "Close."

"We'll have a joint party to make up for it."

"Sounds like a date." His eyes sparkled at the word. I needed to reign in the enthusiasm before I gave him the wrong idea—it was just that it had been a long time since I'd felt so light and buoyant. The rarity of the feeling made it more difficult to manage. "Maybe when the bikes are finished—our present to ourselves," I added.

"Deal. When will you bring them down?"

I bit my lip, embarrassed. "They're in my truck now," I admitted.

"Great." He seemed to mean it.

"Will Billy see if we bring them around?"

He winked at me. "We'll be sneaky." We eased around from the east, sticking to the trees when we were in view of the windows, affecting a casual-looking stroll, just in case. Jacob unloaded the bikes swiftly from the truck bed, wheeling them one by one into the shrubbery where I hid. It looked too easy for him—I'd remembered the bikes being much, much heavier than that.

I could see him appraising the machines as we wheeled them into the garage, and when we were safely inside and safe from view he looked over at me. "How attached are you to the whole 'bikes' thing?" He asked, a sparkle playing in his eyes.

"Well I thought it would be something cool for us to do." I paused for a moment. "Well for you to do, for me to watch. Why, what are you thinking?"

"Well stop me if I'm out of line here, I mean they are your bikes and all, but I was hunting through some of my Great Grandpa's stuff and I came across something interesting." Now he was full of mystery and I couldn't stand it.

"Do go on." I prompted.

"It's a blueprint for some kind of contraption, but I would need to strip the bikes down for parts." He pulled a face like he was unsure he wanted to do it.

"What kind of contraption?" I asked, keeping it bright. I had no intention of scaring him off.

"Promise you won't laugh?" I shook my head solemnly. "It's a time machine."

Oh come on! A wide grin had split my face and I was straining not to laugh.

"Really Jake, a time machine?"

"Sure. Back in his day they used to invent all kinds of crazy stuff. Dad will never admit it but I think they were baked out of their minds. You know, the old peace pipe?"

"You really think this can work?" I asked. I decided to humour him. It may be a stupid waste of time, but so long as we could waste that time together I would be happy. He looked very sure. His answer was a silent nod. "Then let's do it." I said and he excitedly leapt to his feet.

"I want to go see Ephram and tell him the thing works!" He exclaimed.

"Wouldn't that, I dont know, mess up the timeline?"

"You worry too much. Don't sweat it."

And so our project was set.

I feel I can jump forward a couple of weeks and you wouldn't really miss anything. My life was coming back on track in a really great way and I was always torn between the question that constantly burned in my mind. Was it Jacob. Was it his friendship, his intoxicating smile and enthusiasm, his friends who seemed to materialise at will, almost in an attempt to scare the living crap out of one another, or was it the other thing. The thought. The seed of hope.

In the beginning I humoured him, yes, that I can admit, but then a little voice in the back of my head began to whisper 'what if?' And that's when I started to over think the whole thing. I would have the opportunity to see him again. Maybe even follow and find him. Just go to the day before he left. That's all I would need. One last, long lingering look at his beautiful face so I could burn the image into my mind for good. I could even say goodbye. Hell, if I went back a week further I could stop the whole birthday incident. It almost felt unhealthy to even think these thoughts, but that didn't stop me. In fact I was beginning to feel something close to excitement. Like I was really going to get to see him again.

The excitement wasn't unjustified. The machine was coming along. When anyone asked about it we would just tell them it was a car or a rocket or some other crazy story, not that any crazy story would be as crazy as the truth, but it felt right to keep it between us.

In the days that passed we visited junkyards and electrical stores where we could find them, picking up all sorts of random parts. Most seemed like junk but every now and then we found something, like the time we took a drive for over two hours to get to an antiques store. I hate to admit that I complained much of the way there, but when we arrived and I saw the look of glee on Jacobs face I couldn't help but smile. He ran off into the store, rummaging through this and that talking to to himself as he did while I leaned on the counter, aware of a small man watching me from a nearby bookshelf. I gave him a little wave and he moved towards me in a quick motion. As he drew close I could see he was maybe a foot or two shorter than me, he was a very pale white and his face was both deeply creased and badly pockmarked. He looked at me curiously.

"Ah.. What bring pretty girl to shop, am wondering?" His accent was odd. Maybe European. It made me chuckle and he made a face. I smiled my warmest smile and he seemed happy with it.

"Uhm, my friend and I need some parts for a school project." I lied. If I didn't know better I would swear he had a look of disbelief in his eyes.

"Oh, now come. Pretty girl no lie to Ishmeil. Ishmeil might have part you need...?" He winked and disappeared into the back. Just then Jacob appeared by my side.

"Bella, I am so sorry, looks like a wasted trip. There's nothing here. Either the internet lies or someone beat us to it." I held up a hand and he shut up. Ishmeil was watching us with bright eyes. He nodded quickly and scurried into the back room. "What in the hell?" Jacob asked. I just kept my eyes trained on the empty doorway.

"What did you say we came here for Jake?" I asked out of the corner of my mouth. He ran his hand over his face before answering.

"I didn't. I heard this was a good place for off the wall gadgets and thought they might have a few things from Ephram's list. Looks like I was wrong." He sounded a little crestfallen.

"You may just be right after all." I whispered as Ishmeil reappeared, a wide smile cracking his wizened face. Jacob seemed even more confused than ever, seeing the small man carrying an armful of nik knacks.

"Now, now let us see what Ishmeil can bring to you." I saw the look of distain on Jacobs face and so did our new friend. "Oh, thinking we know all, are we?" He directed at Jacob.

"Just ignore him Ishmeil. He should know better." I said giving Jacob a shove. He looked hurt for a second until his eyes lit up again with their familiar sparkle.

"Ok old timer, let's see what you got."

Ishmeil let out a tiny shriek of glee as he tipped the contents of his arms onto the counter top and began to rummage through them. I saw Jacobs eyes light up at some of the artefacts before us. "Now, project such as yours..."

"You told him?" Jacob interrupted.

"No, he just knew, now shut up." I elbowed him in the ribs, standing on tip toe to do so. "Please, go ahead." I encouraged.

"Ah yes, very well. Thinking you will be needing these?" He held some bundles of wires and cogs that looked worthless to me but Jacob took them and turned them in his hands eyeing them with wonder. "Helpful, no?" Jacob nodded as he stared at the alien objects in his hands. "And we have all of these." He handed over more stuff, none of which I could describe beyond saying it looked like a car wreck. Jacob was impressed though.

"I don't think we can afford all of this stuff sir." He whispered.

"Lets us arrange something then. Needing these more than me, wouldn't you agree?" Ishmeil chuckled and rung up a number on his antique register that I could hardly believe as it was well within our budget. "But most of all, you will be needing this." His voice had changed. The mischievous tone was gone, replaced with utter seriousness. He was holding a veil of luminous green liquid. Jacobs eyes were bulging and he was trying to speak. "Yes." Ishmiel confirmed. "Nitrotrinadium."

"No way, that stuffs a myth, isnt it?" Jacob asked.

"And it looks like myth?"

"Come on Jake, let's take it." I said, pulling out the cash to pay. Neither of us spoke on the drive home, me because I was a little freaked out and him because he was too busy staring at the stuff we had bought. Not a wasted day at all, then.


	2. Chapter 2

**ok so thanks for checking this one out. It's a bit of fun, so please don't go too deep into the accuracy of things in the past... I can only research so much... Anyway, here is the next chapter. Sorry for stealing from BttF but hey, it is one of my favourite movies...**

Chapter 2 - Making it work

Quill and Embry had no idea what we were building, but they had made something of a game of guessing at it. "Oh, wait, is it a transporter, like in The Fly?" Yelled Quill, full of enthusiasm.

"There's only one, dumbass." Replied Embry. "Anyways I told you, it's a shower, isn't that right, J man?"

Jacob just ignored his friend as he continued to tinker and mess. I was in my ever-useful position, perched on the bonnet of the Rabbit with my calculus book wide open in front of me. I noticed the pair had fallen quiet so I looked up, which turned out to be a mistake. They had quietly approached me and were now inches away.

"C'mon Bella, tell us what he's building." Whined Embry.

"Yeah, we figured you must know, since you're the brains of the operation and all." I just shook my head. "Please Bella, it's driving us crazy!"

I mimed zipping my mouth shut and threw the imaginary key over my shoulder, smiling my best 'aw shucks' smile. They did not look impressed. Even less so when they realised Jacob had stopped working and was standing right behind them. The wrestling match that ensued managed to distract them for long enough, and eventually they gave up and left. I got up and walked over to the machine.

"Do you really think it'll work?" I asked, running my finger over the blank readout on the side. It had taken on the shape of a beehive with a high school football scoreboard fitted to the side and a door hidden on the other side.

"I have no idea." He smiled. "Do you?"

"Jake, you know I've really enjoyed coming up here, watching you work on this thing, right?" The smile spread wider. "And when it's done and we don't go back in time, we can just find another crazy project, right?"

He chuckled "Yeah, like fixing those old bikes up and going off roading?" His smile was disarming and honest.

"Yeah, exactly." I sighed. "Listen, there's a group of us going to he cinema to see this new movie, something about zombies and aliens, I don't know. You up for it?" He nodded eagerly. "Cool, see you down there tomorrow night?"

"Sure, that sounds like fun."

It may have sounded like fun, but fun it was not. All of my friends dropped out except Mike Newton. I had a sneaky feeling he had talked the others out of going, in a last ditch attempt to make it a date. To make matters worse Jacob seemed to have the same idea where the date thing sprang to mind. They didn't exactly see eye to eye. The movie itself didn't help matters either, as Mike spent the whole time trying not to vomit and Jacob just shovelled in the popcorn and chuckled. I didn't watch it, as I was trying to make up my own head movie, but that is certainly not exciting enough to discuss here. So things were pretty sucky and then Jacob almost attacked Mike as we left. I had no idea what his problem was but he suddenly became really aggressive and amazingly sweaty.

Needless to say the evening was a bust and I drove home, wondering what Jacob would tell me the following day. A question I didn't get answered, when I called ahead Billy answered and told me he wasn't home. I was not very impressed so I went to my room and did homework until it was dark outside and I had no more work left to do. There was a creaky floorboard that was bugging the crap out of me, since I had now taken to pacing. I was sure it wasn't like that before, but what did I know. Anyway, eventually I decided it was late enough for bed. Despite the knowledge that I would just spend the night worrying about Jacob I got into my nightwear and slipped into bed.

A half hour after the light went off there was a tapping at my window that made me jump out of my skin. I hauled myself back out of bed and crept over to the window, the bed sheet wrapped tightly around me. What in the hell was tapping at my window at this time of night. I closed the gap as the tapping persisted, an inky blackness all I could see outside. Then it stopped. I pressed my face to the glass and took a look outside. Then a face appeared right in front of me and I just about jumped out of my skin, stifling a little scream.

"Jake you asshole!" I hissed as I opened the window. He was grinning sheepishly. "What's up?"

"Sorry I scared you." He whispered as he climbed into my room making me feel very conscious about my lack of clothing. My pj's felt very lacking and I was glad I had my cover wrapped around me. He closed the window and turned to me. "Look, I'm sorry about tonight. I spoke to my dad and it looks like I'm about to go through some kind of change.." He trailed off.

"Jake, what kind of change?" I fought to keep my voice under control. "Is this a Sam Uley thing?" It had seemed that some of Jacobs friends had been recruited by the older boy, and his name now sent shivers down my spine.

"I don't know. He didn't get into it." He was hard to read. His voice was trembling with what almost sounded like excitement. "But he said something that sparked my brain into gear." His eyes were on fire. "Bella, I did it. It works." His smile threatened to split his face in two.

"You did what? What on earth are you talking about?" I struggled to keep the impatience from my voice.

"The machine." He breathed. "It works."

"Oh my god." It took a moment to sink in. "Really? How do you know?"

"Oh come on, don't tell me you never saw Back To The Future?" My face was blank. "Doc Brown? Einstein? The alarm clock test?" I shook my head in confusion. Sci-fi movies were not exactly my thing. "Really?" He sighed and exasperated sigh. "Ok, the guy, Doc Brown, he builds a time machine and tests it. He puts his dog..."

"Einstein?" I guessed.

"Yeah, he puts him in there with an alarm clock and sends him like a minute into the future. When the machine reappears the dog is fine and the clock is a minute fast."

I was stunned into silence for a moment. Then it hit me. "Oh my god, who's dog did you fry?"

His grin did not fade. "I used a mouse. The clock was exactly a minute fast and the mouse was fine."

"Wow, ok, shall we try it tomorrow night?" My eyes were wide with wonder. Finally. I would see him again.

"Bella, we need to go now." Now his grin was gone. "Dad says tomorrow some real shit is gonna happen to me, to enjoy the night." He looked worried. "I don't know whats coming but it does not sound good."

"Jake, maybe Charlie can help?"

He shook his head. "Not on this one Bella. Tribe business and all. We need to go now."

"Now?" He nodded. Oh my god, not only was I considering this, I was going to do it. "Wait outside, give me five minutes."

In that amount of time I had pulled together a night bag (I didn't know how long we would be gone) and gotten dressed. My hair was a birds nest, but I figured it didn't matter. He was waiting for me when I got outside, and silently lead the way to his rabbit. The drive to La Push was quiet. Neither of us could think of anything to say, and anticipation made the air hum like an approaching storm. I was picturing the scene. Would I be able to remain hidden? Would I intercept him as he left me or would I just follow him, finding his location and then return to the present to use the information? Would he catch me? Would he be mad? And what about Jacob? How would he feel when he realised this had been my plan all along? I knew how he felt about Edward (just thinking his name was getting me more excited,) and he would surely not approve of the whole thing. Was it sad? Was it obsessive? Most important of all, was it an immense abuse of power? How often would an opportunity to travel through time present itself? A chance to right the wrongs of the past. Did I have a moral obligation to do something major like trying to stop 911? Did my love life really count for more than the chance to save thousands of lives? And then there was Jacobs choice of destination. He had been mulling this over for the past week, trying to decide between going to see his great grandfather Ephram and telling him the machine worked, and going to see his mother, a noble destination as he would not be able to interact with her.

This was something we had discussed at length and even gone so far as to write a set of rules and pin them to his tool box. Mainly they involved not stepping on butterflies and the like, but one major rule was that we were not to interact with anyone who could put the existence of us and our friends in peril. This seemed like a very absolute and easy rule to follow, and I fully intended to follow it.

We pulled up outside the garage. No lights were on inside the house, so we quietly got out and tiptoed into the garage and turned on the light. The machine looked the same as the last time I had seen it. Maybe a few more parts dangled from it but mostly it was the same. He put a finger to his lips and threw a switch. The ground began to vibrate and the machine hummed. A green glow emanated from inside, he pointed to the keypad. "Ladies first." He said.

I entered the date. My birthday. I entered the year. This year. I entered the time after a seconds thought. Ten am should do the job. Then we crowded into the machine and he gave me a wink, pushing the large red mushroom head button. The air around us thrashed violently but we were perfectly still. My hair didn't even blow. The green light intensified until I couldn't bear to keep my eyes open and the hum cranked up a notch. I felt as if I would pass out any second. The hum built to a crescendo and the light seared my eye lids. Then there was nothing. Silence and darkness. I knew I was alive because his warm arms were still holding me.

I opened my eyes and it was dark. The machine had powered down. As the buzz in my head faded it was replaced by the chirp of cicadas. It felt cold and I was instantly glad to have brought a sweater. I looked down and saw the outline of my bag in the dark next to his ruck sack. We opened the door slowly and looked around. It was still very dark, but we were apparently still in the garage. Although it seemed different. I was so excited I didn't really stop to take in the details.

Outside it was crisp and clear. Stars sparkled in the night sky. This was the first time I thought something was wrong. "Jake, I set the destination to 10am... It shouldn't be dark right now."

"Yeah..." He said slowly leading me back inside. The garage looked very barn like. I had never really realised how much like a barn it was. Maybe it was just the workshop and tools that made it less like a barn. Then a thought occurred to me.

"Um Jake, where's your Rabbit?" It should have been here, but only hay bales filled the space. And our machine in the corner.

"Uh Bella, I need to tell you something." He whispered. "The barn... This barn... My dad knocked it down in the Eighties. Apparently it had woodworm so he knocked it down and replaced it with the garage."

"Jake...?" He looked straight at me. "When are we?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - Overshoot.

"What the hell do you mean you don't know?" I hissed. We had the barn door open slightly and were peering out into the moonlit woodland. "Doesn't the machine readout thingy tell you?"

He wheeled around, a slight look of embarrassment visible in the dim light. "Good point." He hissed as he hurried across to the machine. He started pushing buttons and twisting dials but nothing happened. He started to seem a little frantic so I took his hand.

"Jake, what is it?"

There was a short pause before he spoke, his eyes glinting in the darkness. "You know the machine needs power? Well I guess that was something my dad put in when he rebuilt it."

Now it was my turn to be shocked as the realisation of what he said sunk in. No power meant we were "Stranded?" He nodded. "Shit." Stuck someplace before the eighties? Or maybe in the eighties themselves? A thought hit me. If I couldn't see Edward then maybe I could at least have some fun by going to see Charlie and René. At least we could make our time entertaining while we were here. We went back to the door and slipped out into the cool air. It was no longer late at night, more early morning. The stars had begun to fade giving way to the blueish haze of dawn. The sun was still hours away but it was coming. "Jake, how are we going to find out when we are?"

"I have an idea. Come on, keep close." He shot across the clearing and hugged the tree line. From here we could make out the shape of his house, a low dark shadow easily visible amongst the trees thanks to it's straight lines. No lights were on inside, and there was no movement. He lead me along and to begin with I thought we were headed to the house until we began to veer away and onto the main road. Silently I followed, not wanting to break the wall of quiet we had built around us. But I wanted to speak so very badly. To ask what the hell we were up to. I was trying to drink in the surroundings but it was almost impossible in this light. Then we began to approach a building on the main road. I recognised it as the general store he had taken me to a few times when we had needed supplies such as soft drinks and junk food. Now the plan made sense. Go inside and buy a paper. Genius.

"Looks like it's closed." He whispered. Indeed the building was shuttered and there were no signs of life. "That's odd. Warren told me his dad had always opened well before dawn every day." I didn't know what to say so I just kept my mouth shut as he lead me into the cover of the trees. We sat on a tree trunk. "Bella, what supplies did you bring?" He was very serious now. And his concern was causing me great concern.

"Um, change of clothes. Some toiletries, some food, chocolate, tins, things like that. I was only expecting to be away a couple days tops."

His face was twisted with worry and the lightening sky did nothing to help my feeling of unease. "Yeah, same here. Did you bring much money? I have about a hundred bucks from the project fund."

I checked my pocket. "Uh, about sixty dollars. Again I wasn't exactly expecting to need anything." He just smiled, obviously trying to settle me. It didn't work.

We sat in silence for what must have been two hours. The sky took on a golden glow, then burst into a reddish hue before settling into a grey haze as the clouds rolled in from the ocean. I noticed that there was absolutely no movement at all. No cars, no people, nothing. I thought about mentioning it but since it wouldn't really help I decided to keep it to myself. It was really quiet. Too quiet. As the morning crawled on I became more uneasy. There was nothing going on. At all. I had never been up to La Push at this time of day but I would have thought there would be more activity than this.

Then there was some movement. A dark figure outside the store. I could now see the sign above the door read simply 'General Store.' I racked my brain but could not picture ever having seen that sign. The sky was light enough for us to see all around us. I couldn't be sure but I felt that quite a few buildings were missing. That couldn't be a good thing. Jacob was silent and his eyes were like saucers. This was really bad. Then he stood, seeing the light in the store window.

"Let's do this." He said, leading me to the door. From the moment I set foot inside I knew we had a major problem. During one of my summer visits with Charlie he had taken me to a museum, and there was a set of a native american reservation general store at the turn of the century. That is exactly what I had just walked into. The man behind the counter was dressed very simply in a poncho that looked like it had been worn by many men, and a wide brimmed hat, he eyed us suspiciously. Then he caught sight of Jacobs face properly in the lamplight. Yes, I said lamplight. I was taking in the items on the shelves. Bear traps, fishing gear. Candles, base ingredients like fats and sugar, and of course the skinned rabbits hanging by their hind legs above the counter. Yeah, there was no way I would ever sleep again. Then the man spoke.

"What brings you by so early Ephram?" Then a small lightbulb turned on in my head. Oh sweet holy shit. "And where did you get the clothes?" He was genuinely interested. Was he a friend of the real Ephram Black? From the pictures I had seen of Jacobs great grandfather they could easily pass for one another, and the lighting in here was provided by a single paraffin lamp, not really bright enough for an inspection.

"Oh, you know, couldn't sleep. Do you have a paper?" Jacob was trying to wing it and doing ok. Not exactly oscar winning but it would do.

"Sure we do Eph, over where I always keep them. Just brought them in from the pony." He pointed to a corner and we followed his finger, Jacob scooping up the single page of newspaper. My heart continued to sink like the titanic. "So who's the white girl Eph?" The guy asked. He couldn't be more than a year older than Jacob and he looked vey familiar. Jacob was silent, pointing with his forefinger at the date. June 12. 1918. I almost hit the floor. "Hey, Ephram? You ok"

"Uh, yeah, thanks." Jacob mumbled, taking me by the hand and almost bolting out of the door. It was now as light as it would get and mercifully the rain was holding off. Again we headed for the safety of the trees. Once we were undercover and out of sight he turned to me, his eyes wide. "Bella, it's 1918. Nineteen, fucking, eighteen!" He flopped to the ground dropping his rucksack and hanging his head.

"Jake, come on, keep it together, surely we can figure this out?"

"Oh sure. We need 220 volts and a tub of Nitrotrinadiuml any suggestions?"

"Well, let's go down to that store. The guy was pretty old, right?"

He chuckled mirthlessly. "Ok, that's a great plan, let's review. We are going to hope that an old guy is old enough to be around ninety years before we first met him. We also need to get all the way to Port Angeles, only cars don't seem to be very available right now. Oh yeah and one more thing, I don't know if you know your history but I'm gonna need a pass to get myself off the reservation. Not sure who's gonna issue that..." He fell silent, breathing heavily. I really needed him to not lose his head but it was too late. Then, before I could speak another word I heard a twig snap just a few feet away. Then several faces appeared in the trees. Oh and a few musket barrels and spears. Spears? What the hell? Then my whole world pretty much collapsed as the real Ephram Black, a dead ringer for his great grandson, stepped into the clearing and said "Come on, let's see Quill."

What really amazed me was how cool everyone seemed with the whole deal. The only person we had met thus far who had seemed even remotely freaked out was the guy in the store and he was so relaxed it didn't really seem like that big a deal to him. The posse that lead us out onto the road (I used the term road liberally, it was really more of a track,) were around our age group and they all looked so familiar. Ephram was undoubtedly the leader and his right hand man was the dead ringer of Sam Uley. I caught his name as Levi. They took us to a small house not far from Jacobs, and I was sure I had seen Quil walking off in this direction after stopping by the garage. Aside some quiet chatter amongst the locals our group was silent as we approached the building and went inside. It was remarkable that the houses seemed pretty much unchanged, except they didn't have such things as electric lights or TVs. As we got to the door a lanky boy broke from the group and lead us into the house.

"You guys wait out here, I'll let you know what he says." He directed to the group, then turned to us. "I don't know who you are but my dad will want to talk to you. I'm Quil, by the way. Quil Atera Junior." He mumbled the junior part as if he was ashamed to have to say it. Our day was getting stranger by the second. He took us inside where a lady possibly in her thirties greeted us and offered us cookies. "Mom!" Quil whined. "They are prisoners, on their way to see dad."

"Ok honey, whatever you say." He voice had a singsong list to it and her smile was warm and inviting.

"Through here." He directed us through a curtain into the main room. It was dark except for a single paraffin lamp burning in the corner. The aroma of burning scent filled my nostrils and made me want to cough, and tobacco smoke hung densely in the air. There, on a cushion in the middle of the room was the elder. He was wearing a headdress and stripy pj's. I guess whoever warned him we were coming didn't give him enough time to dress. He motioned for us to sit and waved his son away without much enthusiasm. Quil Junior stepped back into the shadows, making it clear he was going nowhere.

"Two travellers from far away." His voice was deep and rugged, nothing at all like his face. He looked to be in his mid to late thirties but the voice sounded decades older, hoarse from years of pipe smoke no doubt. The smell was somewhat oppressive. "What brings you here?"

Jacob took the lead. "Sorry sir but we are so not where we intended to be."

Quil the elder nodded. "Not where you intended to be indeed, but where the fates intended to put you, I think." He took a long pull on his pipe, a faint crackle the only sound. "You, the son of William, and you, white girl with whom I am not familiar." He chewed his pipe and narrowed his eyes at me.

"You know who I am?" Jacob sounded awed.

"I know a few things son. The gods share their secrets with me. They call me a mage." Jacob and I exchanged a skeptical glance. "Do you want my help or not?" We both nodded eagerly. "Then you must think of what has brought you to 1918."

I racked my brain until it hurt, and I could tell by his vacant expression that Jacob was doing the same. Then it hit me. "Did you say 1918?" Quil nodded slowly, his eyes half closed. "I know why we're here." Now they both stared at me. I could feel Quil junior's eyes on me from behind. "1918 is when Edward... Uh, died I guess?" Quil the elder coughed.

"Ah so it is you. The mists of time showed me a girl but I had trouble picturing your face." He held forth his pipe. "Sometimes the smoke gets a little much, if you get my meaning." He winked. "So the girl who walks with the cold ones. You dream of seeing this one again no matter how briefly? Very well. Return to me when you have done so. Junior, we need transport to... Oh remind me dear?"

"Chicago" I said after a short shocked pause.

"And you had better get a disguise for our friends here also."

Three hours later we were standing on the platform at Port Angelese train station. Jacob had on an old suit and lots of improvised makeup to lighten his skin. I was in an itchy dress that seriously restricted my movement. To say this was going to be a long train ride was something of an understatement.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - The Windy City (in black and white)

In the time I called home, the journey from Forks, Washington to Chicago, Illinois would take around two days by public transport. The ordinary person would dress for comfort in sweats and a t-shirt, relaxing in the padded seats of the trains along the way. 1918 was a very different story. The trains we took were loud and uncomfortable. The wooden seats became uncomfortable after about thirty seconds and wearing a heavy cotton dress was really not fun, especially in June. Whoever said ladies were not supposed to sweat had obviously never made this trip in these conditions. Whats more, a two day journey actually took five. Jacob was quiet for the first two days. I could tell he wasn't happy about what I was intending to do, but he was also avoiding discussing it, almost as if to acknowledge it would make it the truth. This made the first part of the trip pass very slowly. I had my ipod in my bag, but there was no chance I could risk slipping my earbuds in. If someone saw that tech we would be finished before we had even begun. So we sat in silence, watching the country slip by slowly. Occasionally some other passenger would sit by us for a while and then leave when we didn't engage them. What could we say? Hey, how bout them Yankees? Hell I wasn't good enough at history to remember what I could say and what I couldn't.

Then we hit Fargo, North Dakota. Fortunately for me the route had followed the northern line so the temperature had kept in the 70s, but now we were starting to move south and I could feel the difference. I looked at Jacob, trying to keep still. He looked back at me.

"Bella, are you as itchy as I am under there?" I cracked a smile and nodded quickly. "Thank god for that. How did people travel like this?"

"I guess it explains why people stayed in a town all their lives." I ventured. "And why people travel all they can now that it's easy."

"You have a point there." He chuckled, his easy smile was back. Thank the lord. "So what's the plan Bells? I mean, what are you going to do? Save him, run away together?"

It was the first time I'd actually considered the task at hand. Thus far it had just been about the journey in my head. Quil the elder had told us to go to Chicago and that was what we were doing. Now that he asked I had to admit it. "Jake, I have no idea." His eyes sparkled and his grin did not fade. "You know I guess with all the excitement of the trip I kind of avoided the thought of what comes next."

"But this was your plan all along, wasn't it?" He was still smiling but his voice had taken on a harder edge. "To stop him from leaving." I shook my head but he ignored me. "No, it's fine, I mean I suppose I always knew, y'know? I mean the thought of you actually staying with me for me..."

"No Jake, don't think that. I love spending time with you."

"Maybe, but you'll never actually love me, will you?" He was still smiling, but now it was a resigned smile.

"I accepted his leaving. Sure to begin with I thought I could try and go back to before my birthday and stop the whole thing, but I came to terms with my fate. I moved on and I can't help feeling you're my future, Jake, you." His eyes widened as the words sunk in. "This whole thing has been about my accepting his not being in my life, but on my own terms. When he left I was so shocked I couldn't take anything in, and when I came back into myself I realised I didn't have the final lasting memory of him that I wanted. Then your idea, your machine, gave me an idea of my own. To go and see him before he left, get a long last look so that I could pull on the memory when I needed it. Like I said, I thought about trying to make him stay, but then I thought long and hard about causality and fate Jake, I'm accepting that he didn't want me. It's taking me time to acclimatise but I'm getting there."

He sat there in silence for a while, just looking at me. I couldn't tell if he wanted to laugh, cry or yell at me. Then finally he spoke very softly. "Sorry Bella." His words were genuine. "I guess I never really saw it from your point of view." Then he pondered for a moment. "One last look?" I nodded. "Do you think that's what Quil sent us to Chicago for? One last look at the human version?" I shrugged. "Maybe seeing him as a normal average guy will make you see me in a different light..." He muttered.

"Why would I want to see you differently Jake?" I asked sincerely.

He blushed through the makeup. "Oh shit! That wasn't my inside voice, was it?" I shook my head grinning widely. "Oh, um, er, hey look at that tree..."

And that was enough to break the tension. He went back to his old self, warm and funny. We laughed together at the strange people we saw, especially in Minnesota. That station platform was full of seriously crazy looking people. Then, at last, we pulled into Chicago Station. It wasn't a town I had ever visited, but it felt somehow familiar, possibly from TV. The station was very nice, massive pillars on the outside gave it a Greek look. The sun was shining and people were everywhere. Jacob lead me, following directions, to a hotel near Garfield Park on the west side of town. I didn't ask where the cash had come from to fund this trip. Honestly I didn't want to know. We passed ourselves off as brother and sister, and the hotel clerk seemed to buy it. The area was nice, a few new buildings in the process of being built. There were people everywhere, and mostly the traffic on the streets was foot traffic or horse drawn carriages. I think the one thing that really disappointed me was that the whole thing was in living colour. I had expected the air to turn black and white or sepia or something. Seeing everything that should be old and worn ad brand new was bizarre but my mind was beginning to accept it. Then it happened.

It was the morning of our second day and I had ventured out to get some ice from the store across the street. A billboard outside told of the nearing end of the war. The war? Oh hell, it was World War One! The great war was raging in Europe. Wow. That made me feel very small. Anyway, I continued into the store after my reverie, and snagged a bag of ice from a big bucket. It seemed to be a quick seller, but at only 1c it wasn't hard to see why. I moved toward the till absent minded, wondering if Walt Disney had started smoking yet, when I saw a familiar face.

I held my breath. There he was. My heart fluttered in my chest. It was strange. His hair was a duller shade, less of the bronze hue. His cheeks held colour, and he wasn't quite the chiselled greek god that I remembered. God, had my memory worked so fast in lifting his image onto a pedestal? He was still very beautiful, but well within the human spectrum. Then I remembered what he had told me. The transformation changed a person. Made them much more beautiful so as to attract their prey easier. Still, it was amazing to witness. I drunk the image in, fearing that this was my last opportunity. Live with the memory of him as a human, and that will allow me to move on. No longer would my mind question if this beautiful creature could have loved me. Instead the question related to a mere mortal, and I could live with that so much easier.

I was just pondering how I could thank Quil the elder when he caught me staring. Oh shit. "Hello." He said, his crooked smile spreading across his face. "I'm Edward." He extended a hand, which I took and very nearly shook until I remembered to do a kind of curtsey thing.

"Bel...Sorry, Betty... That's me, I'm Betty." I almost forgot the name I had checked into the motel under. His smile widened.

"You speak strangely Betty, where are you from?" He was enraptured. Like I was some kind of shiny new toy.

"Oh, uh, a long way away." My mind raced. How to talk to him. I had to get away. "Washington State."

Before he could reply in his musical voice his name was called by a female, another sing song voice, as tuneful as his, and I took the opportunity to get out of there, dropping my ice bag and making a run for it. The sun was bright in the sky and it was warm outside. The horn of the car was loud. Too loud. Then it was dark.


	5. Chapter 5

**Ok somthing a little new for me, a switch of POV part way through. Hope it works the way I wanted it to. Enjoy.**

Chapter 5 - Butterfly Effect

Jacob Black POV

I was in our room. It was fairly crummy, very small and it carried a smell of stale cigarette smoke. That's one thing we definitely got right, banning smoking in public places. I think Bella had been too preoccupied on the journey to notice the fact that literally everyone had been puffing away, be it on the train, in the stations or even in the diners where we ate. A few months ago I probably wouldn't have minded but lately things like odours had been driving me mad, as if my smell had been amplified massively. Not to mention my other senses, take my sight for example. It sure did show up the stains in the room much more. And don't even get me started on my hearing. Jesus, the world had turned up the volume and it was so distracting. Even here with much less traffic than in our time there was just a background din that I couldn't shut out. It made concentration quite difficult most of the time, and when the rage started to build... Well anyway, my enhanced hearing wasn't really needed to hear the klaxon hooter, or the screams. I felt a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as I walked to the window.

Of course I never had any doubt about who I would see lying on the sidewalk next to the car. The car that was pretty much an engine with wheels and seats. And a horn. I turned and ran, taking the stairs three at a time and bounding out into the street where a small group was beginning to form. I pushed my way in mumbling 'I'm with her' and eventually found myself near the opening at the centre. By now she was sitting up and looking around in a dazed way, even more of a dazed way than she normally looked. Great. This was all I needed.

As I took in the scene and tried to work my way to her side I spotted a familiar face hovering over her, yet somehow different. Where did I know that guy from? Then it hit me. Cover him in glitter and flour, and yeah, thats him. Thats Edward Cullen. Just my fucking luck.

I came up alongside him and caught his shoulder. "Hey, she's with me, what happened?" Then I turned to her and spoke softly "are you ok?"

She nodded gently, in a way that told me she wasn't ok, but would be. "She stepped back into the road and the car hit her." He said. His voice was different too. Not so buttery. It didn't make me want to throw up. Then I noticed the lady who looked very much like him.

"I should think we must get her inside." She spoke. "Where do you live?" She directed at me, caring yet forceful.

"Oh, we're staying at the hotel over there." I said, pointing vaguely.

She scoffed. "Nonsense. Help her up boys. You shall both stay with us." I tried to protest but that was obviously a losing battle. We hauled her to her feet (it felt good to be much stronger than him) and each took an arm around our shoulders, following the lady down the walk as the crowd began to disperse and the car drove slowly away. How did she even get hit by that thing? But the thing that was concerning me most of all right now was the way she kept trying to turn and stare at him. This seemed like a very bad idea.

A few hours later she was fully awake and alert. The Mason family doctor had paid a fleeting visit and declared her fine, so I had rushed back to the hotel to gather our things at the instruction of his mother, who had introduced herself as Elisabeth Mason. She was actually very likeable, if a little forceful, and I was finding she was growing on me the more time I spent with her. My prior feelings towards her son, however, prevented any such development, and I kept my distance. It seemed that he was very perceptive though, as he also kept his distance and only spoke to me briefly when absolutely necessary.

We were sat at the dining table of their home and the four of us were eating quietly. I wasn't sure what I was eating but I was enjoying it. So far I had avoided the art of conversation but I could feel it coming.

"So tell me, Jacob, where is it you and your sister come from?" Elisabeth enquired in a very direct tone. No dodging this talk.

"Up near Seattle ma'am." I said after I had swallowed. "We were in town to see our uncle." The story given to me by Quil. I was intending to stick to it too. He mentioned that if anyone investigated they would find an uncle exactly where he was supposed to be.

"I see." She eyed me suspiciously but her eyes sparkled with humour and her smile was very disarming. "And how long are you planning to stay?"

I pretended to mull the question over for a minute. "Er a week or so. We need to be back before school." It's a good job the train ride had been so long, there was an entire backstory if I needed it. It almost felt like Quil knew we were coming.

"Yes, school is of most importance." She rolled the idea around for a while I glanced at Bella who was busy making googly eyes at Edward. He was pretending not to notice, but it was pretty obvious, and it was making me a little queasy. "We were just on our way to the hospital to visit one of my dear friends when we ran into Betty."

"Oh." I said as thoughtfully as I could. "What's wrong with your friend?"

"She has a terrible fever and explained it as though it were the flu. I was going to take her some grapes from the store, you see. But I suppose we shall just have to try again tomorrow."

"No!" Bella was suddenly very alert. "You can't!" She cried, and the attention of the table was focused on her.

"Well why not, dear?" Asked Elisabeth.

"What she means..." I stammered "Is that she would like to spend the day with you and Edward." I could have kicked myself right then and there, but it was the only thing I could think of. "I'm sure you're friend will be fine in a day or two."

Elisabeth nodded. She had bought it. I sighed inwardly. I may have made a massive sacrifice, but at least I had managed to keep our secret. "Very well. You two shall stay the night in the guest room, and I expect you shall show some chivalry sir?" She smiled at me. How could I refuse that. I nodded. "Very well, to bed with you. We shall go to the park tomorrow, and show you some of the beauty of our home." And with that she stood. "Edward, show then to the guest room please."

He nodded and silently led the way to the guest room. It was bigger than our hotel room, and much cleaner.

After a sickly display of saying goodnight to each other he finally left. I closed the door and turned on her. "What the hell Bella?" I hissed. She just looked at me with big eyes. "Really? You don't know how dangerous this is, do you? Jeesh do you even watch movies? You can't just change time." I sat beside her on the bed, exasperated.

"I know, Jake, I couldn't help myself." I looked at her, wondering what she was talking about and she seemed to take the hint. "They get the Spanish flu. It must be at the hospital, you know, where they got it. I couldn't ignore it Jake, I had to warn them."

"Well I have no idea what trouble its gonna cause!" I wasn't happy. "You need to persuade them to go there tomorrow."

"Uh uh." She shook her head. "No way."

"You know you could change history itself, don't you? I mean come on Bella, really." I pulled off my pants and shirt, surprised to hear her giggle. I looked up and she pointed at the mirror. My face and hands were like a mask and gloves. I sniggered. This would be fun if someone walked in on us.

"I can't do it, Jake, I cant let them die." She slipped out of her dress and into bed.

"Then he will never be a vampire, and you never meet in the future." I said calmly as i slid under the sheets on the floor.

"We could stay here." Oh what? She was serious.

"Bella, if you stay here with him, I'm leaving. Maybe I'll go back to La Push, maybe I'll go back to our time, but I won't be staying here."

"Please Jake, don't say that." Her eyes were wide and I hoped she was still just concussed.

"Look, get some sleep, hopefully you'll feel different in the morning." I pulled the cover up to my chin.

"Goodnight Jake." She whispered as she clicked off the light. "Please don't leave me." And with that she fell silent and almost instantly her breathing softened. I spent quite some time just staring at the ceiling, trying to figure out what I was going to do.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 - Dream World

The morning was bright, and sunlight filtered through the thin drapes of the Mason family home guest room. I pulled myself out of my makeshift bed and worked my way stiffly to my feet. Sleeping on a hard floor always left me stiff, and my muscles in my thighs and lower back were screaming at me in protest until I did a few stretches, feeling the satisfying clicks and pops. Then I scanned the room. The bed was empty. That was not good. The door to the room was closed so I quickly put on enough clothes to cover my skin and applied my face. Honestly, I wasn't happy about doing it. Bella had done it for me before, and now I was clumsily trying to cover up the smudges. Finally I was confident in my work, so I gave my slacks one last tug up around my waist and opened the door.

It was almost as if Elisabeth had been waiting for me out in the corridor. "Good morning Jacob. Did you sleep well?" I nodded groggily. "In that case I imagine you will need some breakfast." She paused a second. "Would you like some help with your makeup there? It's not very convincing." I just stood there with my mouth hanging wide open. So the game was up. "Oh, don't look so shocked, I mean you didn't expect to sleep under my roof and keep that secret, did you?"

"How long have you known?" I finally stammered.

"Oh, since I met you, but don't worry, I'm much more perceptive than most people." She caught the look of panic on my face. "And don't worry, I'm not going to 'turn you in' or anything. You can stay with me as long as you need."

Relief swept through me. Then I had a worrying though. "When you say very perceptive...?" I asked coyly.

"Come, you look hungry and there is food going to waste." She cut me off and lead me to the dining room where I could hear piano music drifting from another room. We both sat and at her gesture I started to eat while she spoke. "Well, when you say you aren't from around here, I know you mean more than that, but I can't quite put a finger on exactly what you mean. Don't worry though, I can tell you need to keep that to yourself and I won't pry."

I swallowed a piece of bacon "Thank you."

"Oh don't mention it dear. As far as I can tell you are here on some kind of mission, and I will help you with that in any way I can." She sipped her coffee from an ornate china cup. "It's odd though, Edward is usually even more perceptive than I, but around Isabella, well it's almost like he loses all of his senses."

Suddenly it hit me, and the thought wasn't a pleasant one. "They're together, aren't they?" She nodded. "Music room?" The nodding continued. I sighed. This was not going well.

"As much as I want to see my boy happy, and I have never seen him this happy, I can tell it's not a good thing." It was my turn to nod. "I feared as much." She sat in contemplation for a moment before a thought crossed her mind and her eyes resumed that fascinating sparkle. It was something I hadn't really been able to quantify until now. It had been like one of those fleeting thoughts at the back of your mind, the ones that flutter closer when you think about something else only to fly away when you try and grab them. But now I was locked eye to eye with her I could see it. Her eyes danced with humour and kindness, and it was intoxicating. It felt rude to stare but I couldn't pull myself away. It didn't help my cause that she was a very beautiful woman. Again I hadn't been paying attention last night but now I could see fully. Where I had told myself she was just an older, female version of Edward, it was easy to see the features she had passed down were much softer on her face. I forced my gaze down to my near empty plate. I had to concentrate.

"Them being together now, well let's just say it complicates things. More than I can say." She stayed silent, but pensive. "Our train tickets back to the NorthWest are tomorrow at nine am." I said, changing tact. Maybe putting a time limit on the whole thing would make it more simple.

A thought lit up her face. "In that case I have a proposition for you." She took another sip of her drink almost as if to let my anticipation build. "Let them have today. We shall explain to them tonight, and then in the morning you can take her back to wherever it is you need to go."

I pondered this for a while. The more I thought about it, the more logical it seemed. If I dragged her away now, she would never forgive me, but if I allowed her to say her goodbyes properly, which was all she had ever really wanted, then she would come peacefully. For the sake of one day I felt it was a suitable trade off. "Yeah, that sounds like a plan." I said.

She walked to my side of the table and took my hand. "Thank you Jacob Black." She said, with a wink, then left the room. Wait, had I even told her my surname?

oOo

It was early afternoon and the sun was shining in the park. I was sitting on a patch of grass with my back against a tree, the warmth of the sun pleasant on my face. It had almost been like babysitting, and at times I felt my nausea rise as they acted like the most in love couple I had ever known, but knowing what I knew made it bearable. One day, I kept telling myself, thats it, just one day. Elizabeth kept herself close by, and would occasionally make small talk with me. The more we talked, the more I liked her. She was sharp and witty, and she could make me laugh right when I needed it, like when they were gazing into each others eyes. Our most entertaining conversation had been sports related. She had surprised me by talking at length about baseball, and I had to hang on to anything I could think of that would be from the future, but then I had a slip.

"Baseball won't be the national sport forever." I said. She was sitting next to me, and she looked up quizzically. "You wait, football will take over."

She laughed. "That brutish game played by the thugs in our colleges? Surely not." I nodded and we both laughed. "But what will the ladies do?" She asked.

"Oh they'll love football. Seeing big guys knocking the daylights out of each other? Forget about it."

She chuckled. "And I suppose the Europeans will stop playing soccer?"

Now it was my turn to laugh. "I wouldn't hold you're breath on that one." She was so easy to talk to, and I was having to stop myself constantly from saying things about the future. Then she stood.

"I shall see you back at the house." She said and walked quickly away.

Moments later Bella was sitting in front of me. "Thank you for staying Jake." She said, her face full of life and colour, her eyes bright and wide. "Today had been wonderful."

I looked over her shoulder to see him laying back, face turned up to the sun. "You do understand though, right?" I asked. A shadow fell across her face. "Our return train ticket is tomorrow." Now realisation hit her hard. "Enjoy today Bella, and say all the things you want to say, because this is your chance, your chance to say goodbye in the way you want to. That's why we are here, after all, isn't it? For you to finally say goodbye and have closure?" I caught sight of him sitting up behind her, looking at me with a concerned expression. Then I looked back at her and saw the expression of sadness, but it wasn't the same sadness of Isabella Swan before she travelled though time, it was a sadness of a girl who realised she had been gifted with this opportunity to right a terrible wrong in her life and be at peace. She nodded once, stood and turned away, walking back towards him. I watched her sit beside him, wondering how this conversation was going to go.


	7. Chapter 7

**Ok, and back to normal... And breathe**

Chapter 7 - Why say goodbye?

Bella POV

It had been a wonderful day. Like a dream. Walking in the park and holding his hand, feeling his warm skin against mine, so very normal. It had taken some getting used to seeing him with a little colour in his cheeks, and there was something very strange about being able to hear everything he said, but now I was fully at ease. This was better than I could have dreamed, but now it had to end, like all great things.

This was it. I had to tell him that I was going away and would never return. Despite the fact that this day had been amongst the greatest of my life it now had to end on a sour note. I sat on the blanket and took a deep breath but he spoke first in that wonderful lilting tone of his. "You have to go." He said, matter of factly. "It's ok, Bella. I will miss you, and think of you always, but we can never be together, I understand that."

"But..." I stammered, my mouth hanging open. Then I remembered. It hadn't come up all day, maybe because he still couldn't read my mind, or maybe because he was thinking about other things. "You read Jake's mind." I concluded, quiet, sullen.

"How did you know?" His eyes were wide. "Mother is the only other soul I have told, not even father knows."

I gulped. I had avoided giving myself away for so long, but one simple slip of the tongue. "I assumed that must be the case." I riffed on the fly. "I have an uncle with the sight." I felt uncomfortable lying to him, like I was cheating somehow.

His face softened into that all to familiar crooked smile. "Oh. Well it is good to know that others suffer my affliction." He rubbed his forehead. "It comes and goes of it's own volition, which can be rather off-putting, but when I really concentrate the thoughts will come to me. Except you." He stared deep into my eyes. "So yes, Jacob told me with his mind that you have to go..." He trailed off leaving the way clear for me.

"Edward I am so sorry. I wish I could stay here with you forever but I can't. I'm not from here, and I need to go home, my dad needs me." I shook my head, my hair shaking loose the daisy chain he had made. "The train leaves in the morning. Please don't be mad." The last part came out in a croak as my voice cracked.

"Bella, my love, I could never be mad with you." He said, melancholy yet at ease. "If your destiny is elsewhere, then so be it. As much as I would love for you to remain I know that my path lies here and yours elsewhere. But please promise me one thing." I gripped his hand and looked him in the eyes. "Have dinner with me, tonight. We shall say goodbye, and you can depart in the morning."

He drew me close. "The train won't wait..." Breathed as he gently pulled me to him, until I could feel his warm breath in my cheek. It didn't smell as good as I remembered, but I didn't care. I closed my eyes, ready for the kiss, and then Jacob started coughing wildly. Asshole. I looked around to see him waving his arms frantically, and coughing loudly. Oh, so he was going to do the bee dance was he? Well I would be taking revenge at some fact now seemed like as good a time as any.

"Tonight... " I told Edward before I stood and walked back to Jacob, who had settled and was eyeing me cautiously. He could no doubt see the anger on my face. "Finished fighting with that 'bee'"? I asked sarcastically. All he could do was nod sheepishly. "Come on, then. I have to get ready for my date tonight with Edward." His face fell and his mouth dropped open just a little but I grabbed his hand and lead him away.

oOo

Soon enough I was seated at a table in a small restaurant just down the street from his house. I had done my best to tidy up, and done what I could with my hair and makeup, but still felt horribly under dressed seeing the other ladies in the room. However, his gaze made me feel like the only person in the world. I didn't even have to worry about Jacob ruining the moment because he was back at the house playing backgammon with Elizabeth and a few of her friends. We had ordered our food and Edward leaned closer, across the table.

"You know, today has been so special." He said, his voice barley audible. "And I shall miss you greatly."

I took his hand. "And I'll miss you too. But I'll never forget today." And with that we gazed into each others eyes until the food arrived. When it did we both moved the food around on our plates with our forks, until we admitted that we were just not hungry. We chatted for a long time, him talking about his family, the charity work his mother did, the hard work his father did. Me talking about Charlie but in a guarded way, so as to not give anything away. He looked shocked when I told him how much it rained in Forks, and how little the sun appeared. How ironic. He seemed genuinely interested in everything I said, and was engrossed when I mentioned that Charlie was Chief of Police.

Before I knew what was happening he was escorting me out the door and I noticed the place had emptied thoroughly. We walked hand in hand the short distance back to is house, and he let me in. The lights were off downstairs, so he held a finger to his lips, and we crept inside. At the bottom of the stairs he told me goodnight, and we hugged, then I stood up on tip toes to kiss his lips. The kiss was wonderful and lasted a lifetime. Despite the dark I could see flash bulbs popping in my head like I was surrounded by paparazzi. When he finally released me I almost fell to the ground and had to catch myself. He leaned his face close to my ear and whispered.

"Good night Isabella Black, I hope the fates allow us to meet in another time." And he was gone, swiftly up the stairs and out of sight. I sighed and made for the guest room. I opened the door very quietly and crept around the outline of Jacob on the floor, pulling off my dress and shoes, quietly slipping under the sheets. I closed my eyes, wondering if I would dream, and just as I was on the very verge of sleep he spoke.

"What time do you call this?" We both burst out laughing. If he was anything, Jacob Black was a master at breaking tension in a room. We talked long into the night in hushed voices, me telling him about the food I could barely remember, and him telling me about Elizabeth and her friends, the cheating Louise and the grabby Helen. In fact he seemed rather distressed about Helen's advances. I pictured him fighting off a middle aged woman and chuckled. That would be just the image I would need to get myself a good nights sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 - Return to Forks

Breakfast was a quiet affair. I didn't want to leave him, he didn't want me to go, but we were resigned to our fates. I knew I had to return to my time. To remain here would be folly, even if it had been one the happiest times of my life. Jacob was also quiet. Pensive maybe, as he pondered what we would be doing on our journey. The four of us walked to the station, Edward holding my hand as we trailed behind Jacob and Elizabeth. They spoke in short comments to one another, both sensing the troubles ahead. We, on the other hand, felt no reason to speak. We simply enjoyed these last few moments of each other's company until we reached the platform. I felt a tear run down my cheek as I turned to him. This was it. This was what I had come here to do. To let go, but to do it properly, by saying goodbye in a way that would satisfy me for the rest of my life. It did not feel easy though. In fact it felt so very hard.

"I shall miss you." He spoke, looking directly into my eyes. No my soul. He gripped my hands and I could see that he too was fighting back the tears. Why did this have to be so hard.

"Live your life, Edward Mason." I breathed. The roar of the train began to fill the air. People all around us were moving forward, and so I realised it was time. I looked up at Jacob who nodded. It was time. I leaned forward and kissed Edward softly, and he reciprocated, soft and gentle, sweet like honey. Then I pulled away with a final look and was gone, stepped onto the train and guided by Jacob into my seat in our assigned carriage. I could see him standing there on the platform, forlorn, holding his mothers hand as she wrapped her other arm around his shoulders, as tender as I had seen her. It hurt, yes. It hurt like hell, but I knew he would be ok, and I now had closure. This was possibly the most important factor for me. I sat back and watched him diminish into the distance, and then he was gone. Out of my life again, but this time done in the correct way. I sat back and sighed. It was time to move on.

Jacob had chosen the seat opposite me, and I noticed he was scrutinising me. I eyed him cautiously. "What?"

"I'm trying to make my mind up." He said after a short pause. "Are you gonna actually come back home with me, or will you flake out and stay with your boy back there?"

I stared back at him for a moment, pondering. "Jake, you know I can't stay. It's not my time. Anyway, who would look after Charlie?"

"Oh come on, Bella. I can tell you want to stay. I've never seen you so happy, even before, when he was a bloodsucker back in Forks."

I was surprised to hear this. "Jake, what are you saying?" I sighed. " Are you actually telling me I should consider staying?"

"Bella, you know how I feel about you. To see you stay here would mean you would be out of my life, for good, and that would kill me inside, but to drag you home and make you live a life you don't want to live? All I would be left with would be an empty shell, and I don't think that's fair on either of us."

I hadn't expected this, it caught me totally off guard and for a moment I couldn't speak. Then I regained my composure. "Jake, I can't stay. Seriously. What about Charlie? And mom?"

"You're putting up walls. If you feel like you need to stay then you can figure it out. Hell, as much as I don't want to I will help. I can pass on the message, tell them you're ok. And you would be in the past, so you could technically send them messages yourself." He thought for a second. "I bet I could even come and visit you from time to time."

This was a shock to my brain and I honestly did not know what to think. It took a few hours of deep thought while Jacob slept for me to run it through my head. I played out as many angles as I could before I came to a decision. The train had pulled in so I thumped Jacob to wake him. "Next train." I told him, so we got off. And stood on the platform awaiting our connection. It was colder and I pulled a scarf from my bag. "I've decided. I'm going to talk to Quill." I told him as we stood there, shivering in the evening air.

"Good plan." He said, between yawns. "If there's one guy who can give you some advice on this whole crazy situation, it's him." He pondered a moment. "Even if he does smell like pork." We both burst out laughing.

The rest of the journey was straight forward. It gradually became colder the further north we travelled, and soon we were on the smaller pacific northwest trains. I don't think he knew what was going on when we were going to Chicago, but now Jacob seemed to be enjoying the trip. I could tell he had deep thoughts on his mind, but he was trying to occupy himself with the trains. Maybe if I were a guy I would have been as excited, I mean how often do you get the chance to see real, genuine steam trains from 1918 when you were born in the nineties, but here we were. For me, my mind was occupied by the passing scenery and the people we saw, who seemed to be from all walks of life. As we were moving away from the more populated areas there were less people on the train, and we could stretch out a little more.

All in all it was a decent trip, and the time to reflect had given me peace of mind. I had said my goodbye, yes, but I had also met a new person. Living Edward was not quite like his vampire counterpart. He was soft around the edges. The icy glances and stares were gone and replaced with a warmth I had never know in him. The trade off was purely aesthetic. The voice was less sing song, the face less beautiful, the smell less intoxicating, but that was perfect. He was a more normal person, and that made him so much more real in my mind. I could see myself living a long life with him. A life in a different time. Could I do it? Should I do it. The more I thought, the more I had to admit Jacob was right. It would be easy to pull off, and I would have so much happiness. I couldn't wait to get back to La Push and talk it over with Quill, but the more I thought, the more my mind solidified the choice.

And then we were there. We jumped off the back of the cart and thanked the driver and the horse. It was mid afternoon and the cloud cover was solid, like a steel blanket draped over the sky. Quill's house stood there, small and humble. Few people were out and about, and Jacob quickly wiped himself down and shook out his hair.

"Ok." He said, taking a deep breath. "Let's do this." And he lead the way to the front door.


	9. Chapter 9

**Ok so I've had a couple of comments about the relationship dynamic in the story vs what i selected. Lets just say you'll need to be patient. I learned a lesson with Forks Electrical that changing the status as Inpost the story isn't the way to go. Anyway, please keep going...**

Chapter 9 - The choice.

Quill's eyes narrowed as he looked at Jake. I couldn't tell if he was trying to read Jakes mind, concentrate on something unseen or just withhold a huge fart. Whichever it was, it looked painful. After a few moments Jake broke the silence. "So can you help us, or not?"

The air in the room was getting denser, as the smoke from the incense burner drifted in lazy arcs through the semi darkness. I had to hold back a little cough as I let the anxiety get to me, and then, all of a sudden he opened his eyes wide and sat bolt upright. I looked at Jake who appeared about as freaked out as me. I was trying to figure out what passed for medical aid here, and I think Jake must have been thinking similar thoughts because his eyes were scanning the room, presumably for something helpful like a phone. Then Quill fell limp and his breathing returned to a normal speed. His eyes narrowed again and he stared at Jake long and hard, a laser beam cutting the younger man in two. Finally he spoke.

"I can help, yes. But that was never in doubt, was it?" He shook his head slowly. The smile that had spread across Jakes face when the older man had returned from his trance faded away.

"What in the hell is that s'posed to mean?" He sounded impatient so I grabbed his arm to try and settle him. We couldn't afford to lose the help of Quill now.

"It means a decision has to be made, and it has to be made now." He continued to eyeball Jake as he took a long draw on his pipe, blowing a slow stream of foul smelling smoke into the space between us. I coughed a little and he turned his attention to me, as if he had blown the smoke on purpose. "You, my dear, need to make up your mind, and make it up now, because the gods will not wait for long whilst you ponder these life changing decisions."

I gasped, taken aback by the sudden focus on me. Even Jake was staring at me, and if I could have moved I would have thumped him. Hard. In the chest. "What decisions?" I finally choked out.

He chuckled softly. I could tell this irritated Jake as he tensed for a moment but then he relaxed when the older man spoke, now entirely to me. "You knew this moment would come the moment you chose this path, and now here you are. A fork in the road with three options, only which one will you choose? Who knows? But it has to be soon." He took another long pull on the pipe.

"Jesus Quill, can you lay off the weed and tell us what's eating you?" Jake was more impatient now.

"Very well." Now he was all business, snapping out of his whimsical mood in an instant. "Bella, it seems you have set in motion three separate timelines. I have seen all three but I cannot say how they end, just that they are each as possible as one another." I stared blankly. What in the hell was he talking about? "Firstly you can stay here. If you do that you will be choosing your human who would be a cold one in another life. Your destiny would be in Chicago with him, while Jake, you would return to your time to live your life without her, the rejection being too much to remain here." I looked at Jake who almost had tears in his eyes. Was it the smoke?

"What's option two, cos that kinda sucks." Said Jake, his voice cracking slightly.

"You take the information I give you and you return to your time with the timeline as you have left it, but I warn you now, that leads to separate lives. Since your bloodsucker was never turned he was never here, and so you never formed a bond." His eyes bored deep into my soul. "This chain of events lead Jake to never truly have the chance to reconnect with you. Your lives there are separate."

Jake laughed a mirthless laugh and it was not a pleasant sound. "Wow. And I thought option one sucked."

"And option three?" I asked, my voice clouded in anxiety.

"You do what you can to put the timeline back in place. This will allow you to go back to your own time and live, and love, as you see fit. You have bonded here, over your trials and difficulties, and I see that if you follow this path there is a strong chance you will be able to spend your lives together."

My heart was beating out of my chest and I could hear the rush of blood in my ears. Jake was staring at me with wide eyes and Quill was looking on with interest. Could I leave Jake behind and live here in the past? Could I abandon him like that? After all we had been through until this point? Could I forget about Edward? Finally move on, taking him with me as baggage, but accepting that he was gone and my life now would be with another, and not him, never him, ever again? Had this entire trip been for nothing? Or had it taught me that there was truly someone more important in my life?

Quill laid out three pipes on the ground in front of us. One was carved with a wolf, and this he moved toward Jake. One was carved with a skull, and this he moved furthest from the fire, and the last was plain. Blank. Devoid of anything I knew. The future as it stood now.

I knew the time was short and there wasn't enough of it to ponder the choice, so I made it, and I selected the pipe.

oOo

We had to make the journey back to Chicago immediately. Neither of us were happy about that one, as a hot shower would have been really nice, but a look around La Push told me that en-suite wasn't something uttered here. Have you ever made a really long journey, only to have to turn around and go back, do it all over? Well that's exactly what we were doing. The carriage to the station had waited anyway, so we were off straight away. By the time we boarded the first train I had to talk to him, because the way he was looking at me was driving me nuts.

"What?" I said, exasperated. He just smiled that perfect white teeth smile of his. "Come on, Black. If you have something to say, let's hear it."

He laughed softly as he stretched out on the seat opposite me. "It's just funny, y'know? The last time we made this trip I had a sneaky feeling you were going to do exactly what you did. Don't ask why or how, but I could kinda tell, even if you said otherwise. And now look at us, going to put things back exactly as they were. Nice move, Swan."

I stared him down playfully. "Oh really? Well if you knew I was going to make such a mess, then why didn't you stop me mister smarty pants?"

"Oh yeah, like I could. You know you can't be stopped when you put your mind to something, and for this one you even had to keep lying to yourself. Admit it, it's what you wanted all along."

"Some part of me, yes. But when I was given the options, I knew everything would be different, and I don't want that Jake. I can't bear to never know you, and even if I didn't know I never knew you it wouldn't be right. Somewhere deep in my mind I would know."

His grin was back. "So are you saying you couldn't live without me?"

"Shut up." I tossed my bag at him and he caught it, flashing his teeth and a wink. For someone so irritating, he was also pretty damn cute.

"So what's the plan?" He asked once he had settled down.

"It's not going to be easy, but I need to get them to go to that hospital. Sure it'll break my heart to send him and his mother to their death." He nodded. He had formed a bond with Elizabeth, I could tell, and he would be sad to cause her death as would I. "But if I don't then our lives will change forever."

"You could just stay." He said darkly, but he knew my thoughts on that prospect. To never again see Charlie, Rene, everyone else in my life that I held dear? And Jacob himself.

"You know I'm not doing that. This is how it has to be."

We sat in silence for a few hours, and eventually took turns sleeping. The gentle rocking of the train helped with that, and even if I did feel like I had a million miles of grime on my skin I still welcomed the comfortable warmth of oblivion when it was my turn. A sleep so deep it offered no dreams or discomfort, simply a much needed rest, until he shook me awake.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 - Prey

It was a grey morning. The train was at rest and people were moving around outside the window. It took me a few moments to collect my bearings until I noticed a large white sign that read 'Fargo'. Good. That meant we were almost through North Dakota, and over half way. He helped me to my feet and we collected our stuff and hustled onto the platform where a fine mist made the air damp. We hurried under cover and into the small station.

The building itself wasn't very impressive but it was dry, and that was all we could ask for. We found a bench off along a wall and dumped all our stuff. I took the first turn going to the bathroom, and when I came out I felt much better, but I could see that Jacob was in dire need, so I quickly took a seat and waved him away.

I was just looking away into the distance trying not to focus on any specific thoughts when I sensed a presence approaching me. When I looked up I was genuinely startled. It was a man and woman, perhaps in their early twenties. He was tall and thin, pinstriped suit making him seem taller. He wore a rounded bowler hat and carried a cane in his left hand with an immaculate bronze head. She wore a pinstriped skirt just below her knees and a heavy fur coat which buried her top half, but it failed to hide the cascade of blonde that fell around her shoulder in elaborate curls. What struck me most, was how pale they both were. They moved with style and grace and their beauty made me gasp. I felt sure my heart skipped a few beats. I became aware that the area was empty save the three of us. I gulped hard.

"Well dear, I would say we found her at last, wouldn't you?" The man spoke clearly to his companion in a bright English accent. He sounded impossibly proper. The queen could learn a thing or two from him. His friend simply giggled. "Miss Isabella Swan?" He said, extending a hand which I took tentatively. "Delighted. My name is Howe, and this is my associate Miss Brewer. Would you mind if I sit?" He gestured to the empty section of bench next to me. I stammered and shook my head, as he easily lowered himself down beside me while Brewer perched herself on the arm of the bench on his side. Suddenly I felt rather uncomfortable.

"Just on the off chance, Miss Swan, do you know who we are or why we are here?" He asked in a casual, friendly tone.

"Well I know what you are, if that's what you're asking." I said defensively.

"Ah, well yes." He sniggered. "I would suppose to someone in the know, as it were, that would be obvious." He removed his hat, placing it on his lap. "No Miss Swan, I daresay I must fill you in. We are members of a group based in London who make it our business to protect the timeline." My eyes widened. This suddenly felt very bad. "You see, every once in a while someone figures out a way to travel through time. Well that sounds like a lark, doesn't it?" Brewer giggled, not a pleasant sound. "But I'm afraid every change someone like yourself makes to the timeline takes a terrible toll." He paused and thought for a moment. "Are you aware of a concept known as the space time continuum?" I nodded. "Oh dear. In which case you must be from a time much advanced of this one." I opened my mouth but he held up a hand. "Please, don't tell me anything, you've done enough. The continuum is like a rubber band, you see, and each time you change it or even slightly disturb it, then it will stretch. And what happens when you stretch a rubber band beyond it's limit?"

"It breaks." I said slowly.

"Of course it does. Now I don't want to get too technical, but I'm sure we can all agree that would be bad, yes?" I nodded, as did Brewer. "So, Miss Swan, I must get to the point. What is your business here in my time?"

"I need to right a wrong." I said carefully.

"So you intend to make further changes?" His voice remained even, giving nothing away.

"I plan to return things to how they were." I said indignantly.

"Oh but that is just as bad. You see things can now never be exactly as they were, so you will be adding two stretches to the timeline. And one is more than enough." His glare was terrible, his red eyes burning into me, and Brewer was doing the same, only with extreme hunger. Now I felt cold.

Just then Jacob appeared, not seeing my companions. "Whew. I pity the next guy in there... Hey, you made some friends?" He stopped dead and his face fell. "Um Bella, I can't move." I looked around to see Brewer focused on him. Howe smiled.

"Well, isn't this interesting, a companion. Make him sit, please." He directed the last part at Brewer who drew a downward line vertically with one red painted finger nail. Jacob fell to a sitting position on the floor with a confused look on his face. "That's better. Now, if we were to truly prevent you from making more changes, what might you think would be the most effective way? Oh. Yes." His lips curled into a wicked grin and he slowly raised his hand.

Just then there was a massive hiss from the platform and the thundering sound of a train followed by a hundred people quickly filing into the waiting hall. This broke Brewers concentration for just long enough that Jacob could grab our bags and my hand, and pull us into the throng. It seemed that more people had appeared from the street to board the train and we allowed ourselves to be swept on board. From the window in the train carriage I could easily see them, standing under the cover of the large archway that lead into the building. They were both staring directly at me, and as the train began to move Howe took a watch from his pocket, never dropping his gaze, and tapped it three times. I gulped the driest gulp of my life and fell into an empty seat, relieved to see them disappear into the distance.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 - hunt.

I gnawed my bottom lip as my mind raced a million miles an hour. I looked at Jacob who was blankly staring out the window, watching the countryside slip by. "Jake, how in the hell can you be so calm?" I asked, snapping him out of his reverie. He looked at me questioningly but said nothing. "What in the hell are we going to do? Those two are going to kill us." I said, panic raising in my voice.

"Uh I think we have other problems." He whispered. Now it was my turn to stare back blankly. "You remember the night we travelled... Here?" He made a funny hand motion. Nice. Subtle. "Well my Dad told me I was going to change, right? I didn't tell you what he meant because I thought it was horse shit, but Bella, I think it was true."

"Jake I have no idea what you are talking about." I said, confused.

He sighed and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "So, you know how Sam has kinda been an ass lately, and some of the guys have been following him around?" I nodded, having no idea where he was going with this. "Well it's like this, and don't laugh, but the Quileute are some kind of shape shifty, wolf type people. I know."

I was fighting to conceal a grin, and it was a shame because he looked so sincere. "Jake." I said, compassionately.

"Oh come on. You fell in love with a vampire and travelled through time for christ's sake!" I looked around to make sure no one heard. He took the hint and lowered his voice. "My point is, you know crazy shit exists, so why couldn't I be something more. I mean how much have I grown recently? More than a guy my age should, that's for sure." I shook my head, trying to take it in.

"So how come you suddenly believe it?" I asked.

He let out a dry chuckle. "Because I almost turned right there in the station." I looked at him in shock. "Dad said when we are phasing if there is a bloodsucker" he mouthed the word, "close, then we will shift. It's not something we can control. Lucky for us the woman hit me with some kind of mojo that stopped me. I ain't kidding, I could feel the hair starting to sprout one second, and the next I was frozen solid. I just wanted to do whatever she told me, and her voice was in my head telling me to sit down and shut up. It was like a calm washed over me. I got us out when I could but I've been fighting it ever since. If we see them again I'm going to change, I know it."

We sat in silence for a while as I tried to take it in. "Are you fighting it now?" I asked. He nodded, his face contorted into a pained expression. "What are we going to do?" I shuddered. "Did she read your mind? Does she know?" I asked.

"No, I don't think so. It wasn't like that, she wasn't in my head, it was like she was on my shoulder. I don't know why but it felt like I would do anything she asked. When she got distracted it was like someone ripped a blanket off me and I was normal again, but I'd had the time, being so relaxed, to subdue the wolf. Jesus I feel stupid saying it." He put his head in his hands, brow knit tightly.

I slid over to the seat next to him and held his hand, looking deep into those deep, dark eyes of his. He was still struggling, I could tell. I decided to move along the conversation. "Ok, so what do we do now? I mean, we don't even really have a real plan anyway."

He continued to stare out the window for a while. The sun was hanging low in the sky now and it was casting long shadows across the rolling country. "Ok." He sighed. "We need to get organised. This suddenly went from just hard to damn impossible." He turned to face me, completely serious. "We have to stay on plan, go to Shovelface and his mom, talk them into going to the hospital."

I pulled a face. "I wish you wouldn't call him that." I said.

He sniggered. "Sorry. Ok, so I'm gonna leave the talking to you." I made to protest but he held up his free hand. "Oh I think you got the easy part of the deal. I'm gonna keep an eye out for those two and keep them away from you."

Now I did protest. "And how in the hell are you going to do that Jake?" I asked, fire in my voice. I wasn't about to let him sacrifice himself.

His smile was sly. "They still have no idea what's waiting for them when they get close enough. If I'm anything like Dad says, and the rage in my mind tells me it's true, then the element of surprise will just be part of it." Now he was thoughtful. "But I don't even know if I can control it yet, so it would be best avoided. I say we stick to daylight and areas where there are lots of people. Try and stick together where we can and don't go wandering off."

I nodded. This seemed to make sense. "How am I going to get them to the hospital?" I mused. It was not going to be an easy task but I felt it was preferable to Jacob's. No matter what I said he would not be swayed. This was his duty, and he would carry it out to the best of his ability. It was a worry but I would need to put it out of my mind if we were to pull this off. Then a thought occurred to me. "Jake, how many more train changes do we have?" Worry filled my voice. We would be at our most vulnerable waiting on an empty platform.

He pulled the instructions from Quil out of his pocket and unfolded them. It had only been a few days of use but they were battered and torn from use. He squinted at them for a few moments. "Two." He said, now sounding very concerned. "La Crosse and Milwaukee. The second should be ok, it's a big station and we are only there for five minutes, but La Crosse might be a problem. We get there in two hours, and it's just getting dark. I remember it from before. We had to walk from one station to another and wait three hours. Not exactly a big place either. Shit."

Now I was worried. This was not going to be easy. We were going to die and we would never get a chance to put our present back together. This was not good at all. I racked my brain but came up short. "Suggestions?" I asked.

"I think we might have to wing it, but I'm not sure how. Maybe find some people to stick to, hang with them until the train comes?" It wasn't a solid plan but it was the only one we had.

Two hours later we were standing on the platform next to the train, and much to our dismay not a single sole got off with us. This was about to become even more problematic.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 - Dark Alleys

The station at La Crosse was deserted. If anyone actually worked here they were doing a great job of hiding it, and there we no other travellers to be seen. The old paraffin lamps burned low and cast deep shadows in every corner. This was not going to be fun.

We left at a slight jog, which I felt was something of an error, but only time would tell. We had discussed our route from the train between stations and there was simply no getting around how very isolated we were going to be. In fact I remembered this part of our original journey well. It had scared me, a lot. And that was before I knew I was being stalked by a couple of insane vampires. My blood ran cold as we moved along through the dark street. And reached an intersection. As if my nerves weren't already on edge enough I almost jumped out of my skin when the traffic bell dinged. This was not going to be easy.

We took a right at the intersection and I could see the dim lights of the other station away in the distance. A distance which seemed insurmountable. Then Jacob stopped cold and raised his right hand bringing me to a halt. I scanned the darkness but my eyes could not see a thing. Then, about sixty feet up the road two dark figures strode into view, and stopped in the centre of the muddy road. Oh dear. The distance beyond them to the relative sanctuary of the station was maybe another hundred yards but it may have well been on the moon. I started to look around for somewhere to hide and then I noticed that Jacob was shaking. Then he leaped into the air and exploded into a massive hulking reddish brown wolf. He barred his teeth at our would be assailants and a low growl rumbled in his throat. They stood perfectly still. All I could see of them was their outlines, two figures larger than life. One tall and wide with the extended height of his hat and the slim form of his cane. The other shorter but still tall enough. Top half bundled, presumably in the same fur, bottom half all legs and heels. Could I out run her in those? I didn't know.

They hesitated. Taking in the scene as the situation had just changed, Jacob becoming a huge terrifying beast. However, I still felt we were massively out matched. Then a voice spoke from behind us.

"Not today." He said, deep and powerful. The two vampires slunk back into the darkness and the new figure joined us in the street. He said nothing but walk by me and lead us along our path until we reached the station. He was dressed in a long brown coat and a long eared hat. His demeanour suggested a wealthy upbringing but his clothing suggested a man of labour. He took his hat off once we were inside to reveal dark black hair. His eyes were wide and dark, but filled with a passionate fire. He extended his hand to me. "Quincey Harker." He said in his deep British accent.

"Uh, Bella Swan." I said, almost as a question as I shook his hand. I looked around to see a slightly more naked Jacob than I was used to seeing. He blushed and vanished around a corner with his case, returning a few seconds later in a shirt and slacks.

"Thanks man. Jacob Black." He said has he grabbed Quincey's hand and gave it a shake. "I thought we were done out there."

"It was very foolhardy of you to place yourselves at their mercy like that." He sounded angry, like a parent after finding a child they thought had vanished. "You need to take better care of yourselves."

"So what's your story, Quincey Harker?" I asked, curious now and feeling safe in the station with two men.

"I have been tracking these two for quite some time, and have had many battles with them. I killed their colleague, they killed my partner. After five years we still seem fairly even, but I develop more of an edge with each passing day that I learn something new. They suddenly came over here to America and I knew I must follow. I have heard tales of their exploits abroad and I knew they would be ready to kill, but I shall be honest, I have no idea why."

"Oh I got that." I said. "We time travelled. They don't like that."

"Crikey." He murmured. "Then everything Mr Fry told me was true? Time travel is real and not just a concept? Well I never." He laughed and slapped his knee with his hat.

"So how come they won't fight you?" Asked Jacob, suspicious.

"Two reasons for that, chap. First, they know me. We have fought several times, and through the use of various mystic arts and potions I can move as fast, and with as much power as them. For limited times of course. And secondly I don't suppose they fancied taking me on with a bloody great hairy wolf at my side, eh?" He chuckled to himself.

"How come she didn't freeze any of us?" I asked, trying to make sense of all this.

"Brewers? Well she needs eye contact you know? Her power is extraordinary and dangerous but she can be outsmarted. Keep out of her line of sight and if you think she may flash those giant peepers at you, slam yours shut as soon as you can. Once she gets you I'm afraid there isn't much you can do. It's like trying to swim through treacle with a beautiful mermaid telling you to give up and sink." Now he gently folded his hat and sat with his hands in his lap.

"What about the guy? Howe. Does he have any powers?" I asked.

"Ah well you see that is open to debate with me and my friends, you see we have seen no hard evidence if it but there are whispers that he sees things, an old friend of mine claims he can see the timeline, and that is how he chooses his victims. Codswollop I thought, but now you mention time travel, well, that explains a lot." He turned and looked at us. "So I suppose you had better tell me your story."

He sat back and listened as I launched into our tale.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 - Challenge

When I had finished speaking my throat was dry and lucky for me Jacob handed me a drink. Through my entire story Harker had smiled and nodded, occasionally looking surprised or startled. Now I was done he sat silently, his eyes fixed on some point in the distance, his head nodding gently. Then he slowly opened his mouth. "So, in this future of yours, young people are free to simply build time machines upon a whim?" He mused.

"I wouldn't say a whim." I countered. "We were very driven, and I think we had a little help there when we were collecting the parts, but please don't ask about the future, I wouldn't want to give Howe any more visions."

Jacob paced in front of us. "Why don't they attack? Just burst in here?" He wondered out loud. I must admit I had wondered the same thing but kept it to myself.

"Perhaps this helps." Harker patted his doctors bag. How had I gone for so long without noticing the black bag? "I have a few goodies in here that they don't like, some concoctions I found out about in Siam and Singapore. Potent stuff, mind. You wouldn't want any in your eye."

I smiled uncomfortably. Despite the feeling of safety with him, his demeanour made me uneasy. Dealing with two vampires seemed like a normal day at the office, and it troubled me that he could be so blasé about the whole thing. "How long?" I asked no one in particular. The sky outside seemed to be lightening just a little.

"Another half hour." Said Jacob, consulting his pocket watch awkwardly. I felt sure he must miss his Casio very much.

"Good." I sighed. The sooner we could get on the move the better. I got the feeling we had a new travel buddy, but that was probably for the best, what with our wanting to stay alive and all. And then there was the mission to complete. I screwed up my courage before I spoke again, worried at the answer. "So what's your plan now?" I asked as innocently as I could muster.

"Well if you would allow me I should like to accompany you to Chicago. Whilst in town I shall hunt those two fiends. You two do what you can to put your timeline right." Ok, that didn't sound too bad. We would have his protection where we needed it, but he would keep his distance too, which suited me.

I noticed that Jacob had been quiet through all of this, constantly scanning the area with his laser like gaze. I caught his attention. "Y'know, that was pretty awesome." I said.

He grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, felt pretty good too. Except the change, that was kinda like getting ripped in two. But I felt pretty strong when I was the wolf. And she couldn't get in my head either. I felt her try, must be some kind of wolf mumbo jumbo I guess."

"Don't underestimate her, ever." Said Harker in a serious tone. "Once she gets inside your head that's it, there is nothing you can do, and she has you." I shuddered, nothing to do with the pre dawn breeze that filled the waiting room. Perhaps whatever magic kept me safe from Edward's mind reading skills would protect me from her too.

He stood and paced, his shoes echoing on the hard floor of the waiting room. Here in the lamplight I could see the lines on his face. He was not an old man, maybe only in his late twenties, but this was counted by the deep furrows in his brow and the slight limp in his walk. He was tall and wiry, but his power was evident in his stance. His eyes told more of his story, lined and deep, they were like intense pools of darkness. On the occasions that he looked at me I found I was unable to hold his gaze. This was a man who had seen a lot, and lost even more.

"It's almost time." Said Jacob, looking at the clock on the wall. We rose to our feet and stepped out onto the platform, the predawn air cool, a light breeze gently pushing at my hair. I looked each way down the tracks but could not see much as there was very little light still, and there were no actual lights anywhere out on the track. Then I noticed a figure standing down the platform from us. He wore a uniform and hat. So there were people working here. I continued to scan the area, noticing that the two men were doing the same. Then I saw them. Two shadows lurking at the edge of the platform, near some trees. I couldn't be positive but it must be them. I felt a chill run down my spine that had nothing to do with the morning air. Then my ears picked up a clack of brass on stone. His cane. The Jacob and Harker turned too, Harker immediately looking away but I noticed Jacob became rooted to the spot, transfixed, like a rabbit in the headlights. She had him. This was not good. I was just starting to wonder how she had gotten to him when I noticed a flash from right about where her eyes would be. Ok, now I was fairly sure I was immune to her power. Jacob, on the other hand, was not. He took a single awkward step forward and stopped again, as if he were fighting with himself. Then I heard it. The sound of inevitability. Our train. Jacob didn't flinch. This was bad. I realised they were advancing, ever so slowly. This was really not good. We couldn't afford them being on the train. Sure they could probably out run it, but on the train we had a slight amount of protection.

Harker moved next. The platform began to fill with steam and this covered their approach even more. He pulled a vial from his bag and hurled it across the platform at them. I heard the tiny smash as the glass impacted on the stone, and then there was a flash, and a golden light began to spread up from the ground. Immediately they became visible in the new light. Their faces glinted and sparkled like a million diamonds. They glanced at each other and instantly turned and fled, obviously cautious of the rules of the Volturi.

Jacob became limp and we guided him to the waiting train, climbing aboard and selecting a carriage where we sat in silence as the train rattled along the tracks.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 - Sweet Dreams.

Jacob POV

Explain what happened on the platform? Well I heard the click of brass on stone, and that naturally captured my attention. Somehow I knew exactly what I was going to see when I looked there, but it still came as something of a shock when I once again locked onto those two sparkling pools of crimson. In half a second all of my surroundings fell away from me and it was just the two of us, standing in a dark room. It was warm, but not overly so, and the air was fresh and not stale. She stepped forward into a pool of light and I could see her perfectly. I was immobile, fixed by the sight of her, as she slipped out of her fur coat, letting it fall to the ground behind her. Her blonde curls fell loose around her face and shoulders, her pinstriped blazer matching her skirt was open and her white shirt was unbuttoned enough to reveal a good dose of milky white cleavage. Her brilliant red lips curled into a smile that made me want to blush, and I could feel my cheeks burn in response.

"Come over to me, my love." She said, and I found myself taking a slow step forward while she did the same, her heels clicking on the floor loudly. She pulled off one long black glove with her teeth, red lips curled into a playful snarl, never dropping her eye contact, and then she curled a red painted nail, motioning for me to come to her. I felt like I should run but my body would not meet my requirement, instead it felt like I was trying to walk through molasses.

Then the whole world exploded into noise and colour and we were no longer alone. Hands were grabbing at me and steam billowed in the air casting a strange grey light. I was hustled onto the train and all but thrown into a seat where I tried to gather my thoughts and compose myself. The motion of the train was very comforting to me, and I let me head loll to one side as the other two sat in silence, occasionally casting a weary eye in my direction. I still felt strange. My muscles were heavy, as if I had swam a marathon, and my head was fuzzy. Then Harker looked me in the eye.

"That was a very stupid thing to do." He scalded me. I held out my hands and shrugged my shoulders. "I told you not to make eye contact. She will get into your head at any opportunity, and trust me, the last thing you need is that viper in your head. She'll trap you and then that'll be that. I might not be able to save you the next time."

I just nodded. There was nothing else I could do. I was so tired I could feel my eyelids drooping. The rising sun was struggling to penetrate and slowly but surely I could feel darkness creeping in. Gently I drifted away, no longer aware of the quiet conversation.

I was standing in a corridor, dark green walls and heavy mahogany woodwork surrounded me. A wall light flickered in the distance. I turned and saw the corridor stretch out behind me in the exact same way as it did in front of me. I walked forward, looking at the doors around me. The numbers were blurred. They did not matter. The dim light seemed to fade into a black rectangle in the distance. I approached the flickering light which was opposite a door. The door was number 592. The brass numbers gleaming faintly in the dim light. I reached out for the shiny brass door handle and pushed gently, moving forward as the door opened. Inside it was daylight. In fact it wasn't even outside anymore. It was a green field, lush and sparkling with morning dew. Some trees in the distance rustled in the slight breeze and I continued to walk forward, never thinking to look back.

Up ahead of me I could see a girl sitting on a chequered blanket, a basket along side her. She had her back to me, but it was fairly obvious in my mind that it was Bella, from her long dark hair to her casual clothing. As I approached she turned, looking up at me. Her face was different, older and more pale. Her eyes burned red and her expression was cold, as though she didn't know me. She lifted the lid on the basket and a blinding light spewed from within. I was still rubbing my eyes when I regained my vision, seeing I was in a hotel room, the green walls and mahogany finishings gave that much away. There, on the bed, sat the woman. Her blonde hair fell in ringlets around her shoulders and her ruby lips were parted slightly. She was dressed the same, fur coat, skirt, but she shrugged off the coat and beckoned me to her. I obliged, taking her hand in mine and slipping the other hand behind her head, pulling her to me and crushing her lips passionately with my own. Her hands were behind me, pulling at my belt, loosening my pants and pulling them to the floor. Then she pulled away and shrugged out of her skirt and blouse, revealing her black underwear, heaving bosom, thighs milky white above the stocking tops. She lay back and winked, pouting and beckoning me once more. I began to climb onto the bed when I noticed another picnic basket, right there on the night stand. It fell to the floor and opened spilling warm light through the room until all was white.

Woah. Ok, there was no possibility I could tell them about that. Had she gotten in my head or not? I hoped not. I opened my eyes to a bright light, the sun flooding in through the window. I could feel a tightness around my groin, and was embarrassed to look down and see I was straining at my pants. I hoped they wouldn't notice. They didn't. They were both staring out the window, watching the countryside roll past. "Where are we?" I finally asked.

"About an hour out of Milwaukee." Bella said softly. "You slept for quite a while there. Nice dream?"

"I... Uh..." I stammered, trying to compose myself. I noticed her glance down and grin a shy grin. My cheeks burned and I could see her colour up too. I was just glad that Harker was too engrossed in the countryside to pay attention.

"Your country is beautiful, you know?" He said, wistfully.

I just looked over at Bella and grinned. She smiled back, stifling a giggle. Suddenly I felt good. Rested and strong. Bella and I chatted softly as we rolled along, nothing world changing, or even noteworthy, just teenage babble. Occasionally Harker would ask us a question about the future, and we would try to explain things. I think I gave myself a slight problem when I mentioned a certain popular piece of tech.

"What phone have you got now Bells?" I asked. Harker looked at me quizzically.

"Do you mean telephone? There is more then one kind in the future?" Harker sounded puzzled.

"Sure." Said Bella. "Almost everyone has a cellphone in our time."

"A... Cell... Phone?"

"Yeah." I sighed. "The whole phone thing, whew, it kinda took off there. Now you can stick your phone in your pocket and take it anywhere." I started to dig into my bag.

"To start with it was only rich douche bags." Bella continued, giggling when he made a face at yet another foreign word. "But then they made it more and more affordable. Some people can't function without one."

I finally pulled mine out of my bag. It was by no means a good one, but it would do. I hit the power button and it sparked into life, making his eyes go wide like dinner plates. "With this thing you can watch TV, catch up on world news, navigate, you name it bro." I handed it to him and he stared in wonder, touching the screen and flinching when it responded.

"I would very much like to live in your time." He said softly, the awe in his voice was incredible. It made me appreciate what we took for granted daily. In fact this entire trip had been having that effect on me. He handed it back to me. "Better put it away though, we shall soon reach our station."

Soon enough the train slowed and pulled into Milwaukee station. The sun was out but it was being surrounded by cloud. I hoped that would be enough. Quite why they hadn't just stormed the train yet I did not know. We stepped out onto the platform and I felt the early afternoon sun on my face. It was a pleasant day and it made the trip seem that bit easier. What did not have quite the same effect was the pair of figures lurking in the archway of the building. "So much for visiting the bathroom." I cracked. We were going to have to just wait out here, but lucky for us it was not a long wait. They were around fifty yards away, and I made sure to keep them in my peripheral vision. As enjoyable as my dream had been on a personal level, I didn't really feel it wise to tempt fate.

"Try to ignore them Jacob." Said Harker out of the corner of his mouth. "Isabella, her powers seem to have no effect on you, yes?" I nodded. "What are they doing?"

She stammered for a moment, thinking. "They're just kinda, um, standing there staring at us. I think she's trying to get in my head." Another moment of silence. "She seems frustrated, and so does he."

"That's both good and bad. We have an advantage, but she will want to gain some kind of payback." Harker sounded serious. "Anyway, it will not be a problem for now, here is our salvation once more."

He was right, the train was pulling in, slowly moving along the platform. As we climbed aboard we heard his voice, clear and harsh, ringing through the afternoon air. "They have night time in Chicago, you know."

Oh great.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15 - The plan.

Bella POV

The final train before Chicago. It was time to cook up some kind of a plan. "So, what are we actually going to do when we get there?" I asked. "Just getting here has turned into a challenge so much I bet none of us have a plan for what happens next."

Jacob thought for a moment. "Well, I say we go straight to his house, drag him down to the hospital and throw him in with the infected. Easy?" His grin was not reciprocated. "Aww man." He said playfully.

"This Cullen boy, you need to get him to the hospital, you say?" I felt sure I had already explained this to Harker, but I guess it couldn't hurt to run through it again.

I sighed. "Yes. He has to contract the Spanish Flu, he has to be treated by Carlisle, and he has to be turned by him." I paused a moment, realising we had missed something. "It's not just Edward! His mother was there too. She begged Carlisle to change him. Maybe without her, this whole thing won't work?"

Silence for a moment, then Jacob spoke, softly. "We have to get her to go first. She has to be Edwards lure." I could see the pain in his face at this suggestion. He had formed a bond with Elisabeth very quickly. I think her strong maternal instincts had rubbed off on him. "Then he will follow."

"Very well." Said Harker. We shall talk her into visiting this hospital, and that should set in motion the events of your timeline. However, we still must consider those two. His parting shot was dead on, and by my thinking the sun will have about set when we pull in to Chicago. Just how far does this chap live from the station?"

I looked at Jacob, who looked back at me. Concern spread across his wide brow. He thought a moment. "Uh, far enough. Like, a good walk. Maybe an hour. Could we get a cab?"

"And risk the life of the cab driver too?" Harker was never anything but serious.

"Nah, you're right." Jacob racked his brain, as did I.

"You know I think our only option shall be a mislead. I have a bit of an idea coming to me, but for it to work we shall have to get busy, and hope for a huge slice of luck."

I gave a nod and a big smile. "Ok, let's get started."

oOo

The train chugged along the track at a fair pace. Countryside had been replaced by small buildings. We were not far out of Chicago now. And my fear was peaking thanks to the lengthening shadows. The sky was beginning to burn. Clouds were becoming a light shade of pink and that shade was slowly becoming deeper. I looked up at Jacob, who had a slightly self satisfied look on his face. Harker had left us a moment earlier to visit the bathroom, advising us that he would be a while, but we had finished our work so we all felt we could rest. The afternoon had been long and tiresome, bartering with other passengers, but we had done a good job, and confidence was high.

"Do you really think this will work?" I asked.

"Not a chance in hell!" Jacob smiled at me. "But what choice do we have. We need to make it work, or die tryin."

"Thank you." I said, suddenly overcome with emotion. "For sticking with me. This whole thing just keeps getting harder."

"Ah, aint no thing." I loved his attitude. Always so positive. "Anyways, I didn't want to go home by myself, and that alternate future business? Come on!"

"Jake, you are amazing."

"Yeah, well, we all try our best." His smile was dazzling.

"You know if we get home..."

"When." He interrupted. I smiled.

"When we get home, I'm going to try harder. I want to be normal." He sniggered and I shot him a look. "I think the main thing I need to do is not try and remember him, nor try and forget him, I need to simply live with what I have. Memories. And move on. Live my life."

He smiled his dazzling smile again. "You know, I think you might just be ready to settle down. Know any awesome, great looking guys?" He tugged at his own lapels.

I smiled a shy smile. He took my hand in his and I lost myself in his deep brown eyes. We had to make this work. We had to.

Just then Harker appeared to spoil the mood. He took a seat beside me, Jacob opposite me. Outside the window lights had begun to blink into life. It was not yet night but dusk was closing in. Harker ran his hands over our work and nodded. "We are all clear?" He asked. We both nodded. "Very well. We each know the plan. And I have the relevant addresses."

"How long?" I asked.

"Not long." Jacob said, his game face now well and truly set. "Buildings are getting bigger."

"Last time we came this way." I said "I was so excited. To see him. Now it's all dread."

"Save your adrenaline dear." Said Harker "For I feel you shall need it."

The train began to slow and the lights of the station were bright in the cabin. This was it. Go time. We would have to do this with some perfect timing.

We climbed down onto the platform where the three of us found a seat, just out in the open and directly under a lamp. The pool of orange light was somehow comforting. It did not take long for the passing crowd to disperse and when it did a chill began to cover the platform. Then there was a faint clip clop of high heels. The walk was slow, deliberate. She approached slowly from behind and then all of a sudden he was there, in the pool of light, just a few feet from the bench. Almost instantly she was there too, covering the rear, eyes burning with the desire to kill.

So this was it, then.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16 - Escape

"And so, this is it, my little time travellers." Said Howe, his voice loud and clear carrying on the still night air. "Brewer my dear, please take control of the dog."

She grunted with confusion. Just then Harker leapt to his feet flinging two bottles of potion at the feet of the attackers and fled as hard as he could, the two vampires trying to pursue but they seemed to become slow, even for a human. We watched from the relative safety of a nearby gantry that Jacob had lifted me onto. Now they were out of view we climbed down and quickly picked up our stuff, making a run for the street exit opposite the one Harker had used. It seemed the plan had worked to perfection. The mounds of material we had gathered were still there on the bench, one with a crude long dark wig, the other with a crude black pony tail.

As we quickly walked down the street Jacob had his head on a swivel, looking in every direction, and I must admit I felt somewhat paranoid myself. It felt like an immensely lucky break, and now we had a fair distance to cover. Harker had told us the potions would last over an hour, and that would be just about enough. He was also leading them far away from us, so we could only hope that he would keep them at bay long enough and recognise when they were returning to full speed so that he could get himself to safety.

"That went well." Jacob panted as we all but ran down the sidewalk. There were a few people milling around now, and as we approached a more populated area there were more people despite the darkness. "With the luck we've been having I thought we would screw up."

"I think it's about time we had some luck, Jake." I heaved between breaths. I was really not as fit as I should have been, and carrying my bag didn't help. "Everything seems to have gone wrong on this trip." I sighed. "Now I know how HG Wells felt."

He sniggered. "Hey, c'mon, it's just a little further. I don't remember The Flash making it this hard work for himself."

I laughed. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"Well, he travelled back in time when he ran too fast, and was able to right a tonne of wrongs."

"Yeah, but he still couldn't save his mom."

He thought a moment. "Yeah, I guess. And that Thorne guy didn't do too well, either."

I laughed. "Face it Jake, nothing good ever comes of time travel, we know that now."

"Lougle!" He exclaimed. I thought it best not to even ask what on earth he meant by that, and I didn't have time anyway because we were there. His house was exactly as it had been when we left. A light burned in the lounge window. We approached slowly and I gulped, knocking three times.

Elisabeth opened the door in her nightgown. She did not look good, no make up and very red eyes like she had been crying, but her face lit up when she saw us, quickly ushering us inside. "Isabella, Jacob, how are you?" She fussed. I could tell there was something very wrong, and I could tell it was going to cause us some issues.

"We're fine Elisabeth." I replied. "But we really need to see Edward. Is he in bed already?" I noticed there was no music in the air. That was a concern. Perhaps he was reading.

"Well you can't" She said, her face a vision of despair, tears streaming down her cheeks. "He left this morning to join the army. He said he wanted to go and make a difference in France, and since he couldn't be with you he may as well go and fight." The look she gave me bore no ill will. How she was so nice to me I could never know. If it was the other way around I couldn't say how I would have reacted.

"Well, thats just great." Sighed Jacob.

"He went to stay the night in a hotel, couldn't bare to say goodbye on the day. His bus is first thing in the morning."

I looked at Jacob who returned my gaze with intensity. Then he shook his head. "I'm sorry Elisabeth." He said. "We can't really move around at night, there are some people after us."

She looked shocked. "Oh my gosh. Then you shall stay here until morning. Please, I insist."

"Thank you, so much for your kindness." I said, and she came over and hugged me tightly.

"It's the least I could do." She said, fighting back the tears once more. "Edward Senior is over at the hospital all night, he has some business there I think. He won't be back until after dawn."

I smiled. "We can leave at dawn. Make our way over there and get him." Jacob nodded. "I know this sounds odd, but would you be able to meet him at the hospital if we send him over?"

"Why, of course I can. I daresay Edward senior will most certainly still be there deep into the day. He becomes very engrossed in his work."

She had been moving us toward the guest room, and had taken my bag, which she now lay upon the guest bed. "You don't have to do this, you know." I said, unable to stop the prohibitive words from jumping out of my mouth.

She made a face. "Of course I do, and I'm sure you will tell me what is going on soon enough, when it is time. But for now, you both look exhausted. Get some sleep and we shall get on with the plan. I shall wake you with a light breakfast shortly before dawn.

With that she closed the door. I looked at Jacob who was already stripping off his top and unbuttoning his pants. "Jake, I'm just going to sit here while you get ready to sleep." I said, sitting on the bed. And before I knew it I had flopped over and my eyelids had become as heavy as two train cars.


	17. Chapter 17

**Sorry about the delay, life kind of got in the way. Anyways, the story is now complete. Enjoy**

Chapter 17 - The mission

I was awakened by the strong but gentle hands of Jacob as he squeezed my shoulder. I opened an eye to see him smiling down at me, early morning sunshine pouring in through the thin drapes.

"Morning sleepy head." He said, his smile wide. "We need to get moving." And with that he disappeared into the bathroom. I lay there for a moment listening to running water before I made myself move. To my own disgust I was still in my clothes from the day before, my hair was matted from the travel and stress of the past day. What I really needed was a good, hot shower. Which was a shame really.

Once I was clean and dressed we gathered our things together. "Ok, so we go down to the hotel, then what?"

He smiled "Bella, I really don't think you will have any trouble getting him to come back." He had a point. I guessed when we got back to the house we could cook up the next part of our plan, or just take him to the hospital anyway. The hard part about the hospital was going to be not catching the Spanish flu ourselves. And of course running into Carlisle would be bad, but since we were doing this during the day that shouldn't be a problem.

"But how do we even find him." I asked. "I'm sure the hotel won't just give us his room number?"

He smiled a knowing smile, something I hadn't seen him do for a while. "Yeah, with the whole wolf thing I'm kinda developing my senses?" He didn't sound overly confident in this, but I went with it. "The whole scent thing? Yeah it's strange but I can kinda tell people from their smell. I'm pretty sure I can find him."

I laughed. "Ok Lassie... whatever you say."

We managed to get out of the house with minimum fuss. Elisabeth wanted him back as badly as we did so she did her best to stay out of the way, just supplying us with oatmeal and coffee. It was serious faces all around, and I could kind of tell she wanted to come with us, but was restraining herself. I didn't really want to have to explain the dangers to her, for one thing it would take too long.

The sun was low and bright when we stepped outside. That was good. The last thing we needed at this point was the time team running interference on us. We briskly walked the streets, noticing that the foot traffic was slowly increasing. We were heading towards the busy part of town, and indeed it was getting busy as there were more people around by the minute. The sun was still shining though, which was a good thing. We walked in silence, grim determination now replacing the fun of the journey.

It took us over an hour to reach our destination. The hotel by the bus depot. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting. Given his upbringing and obvious lack of poverty I was expecting something plush. And this place was anything but. Had it been out of the city it would have been a motel, and I assumed it was probably used as a place of business for the working girls of Chicago. I guessed he must be trying to acclimatise to a less luxurious way of life, as a rich city boy in the army would most likely be eaten alive, but to be fair I didn't exactly think roughing it for one night would do the job.

We walked through the door and straight past the sleeping host on reception. The door was hanging from one hinge at a crazy angle and we had to move it. Touching it wasn't the most appealing thing I have ever done, and I decided to keep my hands to myself. Then we were in the corridors, just rows of blank doors for company.

"Ok boy, go find him!" I said, clicking my tongue. He gave me a look and started walking.

It took a while, but eventually we were on the third floor and he stopped dead. I had expected him to be sniffing like a tracker dog and do the crazy pointing thing when he picked up the scent, but no such luck. Instead he simply walked with a calm expression, breathing in long, slow breaths. Until he stopped dead. He closed his eyes and took an extra deep breath. "Here." He said, pointing at door number 317.

"Good work boy!" I said, patting his head. He was not amused. I knocked on the door and waited. As I was about to knock again I heard a banging from within, and then the door opened. The dark corridor was illuminated by his radiance. He had obviously just woken, and his hair was all over the place. Actually, it was how I had know it in my time. I realised that here he kept it neat in a side parting. Interesting. He stepped back to let us in, rubbing his eyes.

"Bella? What do you guys want?" He croaked, catching himself in the mirror. He touched his hair before letting his hand fall. Had he found a new style?

"Oh Edward." I said, hugging him. He put his arms round me and hugged back. He was only dressed in his briefs, and I noticed Jacob looking awkwardly away. "We need you to come home."

His face lit up immediately. "You decided to stay?" He asked.

"Uh kind of." Was the best I could do, and I saw the look on Jacobs face. 'Really?' It said. I gave him a quick shake of my head, imperceptible to Edward. "We need to get you home."

Straight away he started to gather his things. It was clear that he had been secretly hoping for some kind of secret intervention, with the speed of his agreement to come with us. He seemed very eager.

Soon he had a duffel bag slung over his shoulder, rumpled shirt and slacks, and the unkempt hair I would come to love so many years from now. It was time to move. Just before we set off I noticed that far away look in Jacobs eyes. He had a strange smile and I had no idea what was going on with him. I snapped my fingers in front of his face, but no response. His smile was turning into a stupid grin and looking down I noticed he was more than just amused as his pants were straining against his belt.

I gave him a moderate slap, and he came too very quickly. "What the hell Jake?" I asked, a little more frantic than I would have liked.

"Oh, uh, sorry. Miles away." He said, coming back to normal in a snap. Strange, I thought.

We set off down the hall, down a couple sets of stairs and onto the ground floor. It was very spooky down here, the flickering light in the middle of the corridor not helping at all. We were about two thirds down the hall when I noticed an open door to the right. Jacob was leading and Edward bringing up the rear, so I got a good view of Jacob stiffening up, and his head snapping to the right as he passed the door. Instantly he walked into the room. I ran forward to see a dirty room, much like the one where we had found Edward. The difference being that this one contained a certain blonde lounging on the bed, an absolute mile of leg showing under the split in her skirt. She was pouting and beckoning Jacob to her, and he was proceeding, oblivious to his fate.

I screamed his name and everything turned to slow motion. It may sound odd but it almost felt like he knew what he was doing, even like he had been here before. Her eyes were blood red, matching her lips, which parted as she began to move into a position ready to pounce. I came running into the room, screaming my lungs out, grabbing him around the waist, followed by Edward who seemed totally confused by the entire scene. He must have sensed the danger though, which I guess wasn't that hard since I was going pretty crazy. He barrelled into me, acting on pure instinct, and the three of us went hurtling towards the sliding door. Lucky for us it was wide open, presumably her point of entry. I noticed as we went by there was an amused look on her face and I hated her for it. For what she was doing to Jacob.

We found ourselves out in the bright sun, surrounded by old pots and plants. I looked behind us to see her in the doorway, smiling at me, only ten or so yards away. She puckered up, blew me a kiss and hissed "Later, darling." And was gone.

I hustled the boys out of the garden onto the street where we all took a moment to gather ourselves. Edward spoke first, his look of confusion turning to anger. "What in the name of god was that about?" He asked.

"Let's walk and talk." I said. We turned and set off down the sidewalk, the sun high in the sky now, as the morning was fading away. "Edward, the truth is some very bad people are after us."

"Why?" He asked, his face contorted in confusion.

"It seems we upset them on our journey back." Said Jacob, his face still flushed from the experience. "A game of poker, went our way and they didn't like the outcome."

This seemed to do the trick, as he didn't ask any more questions, just eyed us both with suspicion for a while until it faded and his gaze began to fall on me with affection filling his face. "Well, if that's what brought you back to me, then so be it, I'm sure we can be rid of these scoundrels." He was full of confidence now. I had to admit it helped me feel a little safer, even if he didn't know what he was getting into.

We were passing through a park, across a clearing where there were no other people to be seen, and I was wondering what story I was going to dream up to move us along when suddenly there was a chill. The sun was no longer present, a huge black cloud covering the sky. I would have noticed it had I been paying attention. Then I looked up and there they were, just a matter of feet away, Howe leaning casually on his cane, Brewer in a fighting stance looking straight at me, murder in her eyes.

Jacob was first to react, jumping into the air and exploding into his full wolf form, rushing at Howe who staggered back, trying to shake off the huge dog. Edward had such a look of shock on his face that he was unable to react as Brewer pounced forward, knocking me to the ground and swiftly grabbing him about the throat. I looked up, trying to shake the cobwebs. She had her teeth bared and her head up, staring me in the eye. It was as if she wanted me to watch this. Edward had shaken free of his stupor but was now immobile in her vice like grip, struggling in vain to free himself. Jacob was faring much better, standing atop Howe, taking the odd blow but dishing out some damage himself.

Then she gave me a wink. Edward took her moment of lost concentration to almost squirm free but she caught his arm and casually bent back the forearm. He screamed a blood curdling scream and fell to the ground. As she was about to fall on him with her blood red lips parted wide her head suddenly tilted at an odd angle. Then it fell to the floor, followed by the slumping body. There stood Harker with a Broad sword of all things, and a very satisfied expression.

Howe caught sight of the scene and howled with rage, throwing Jacob into a tree some fifteen feet away. He was about to lunge for Harker, a crazy look blazing in his eyes, when suddenly there was bright light. The vampire turned and ran, disappearing into the shadows.

Jacob was now stood by my side, Harker helping Edward to his feet, holding his arm tenderly. "It is a good thing I found you when I did." Said the Englishman.

Edward raised a hand. "Could someone please tell me what in the hell is..." and he passed out before he could finish his sentence.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18 Execute

We struggled our way through the streets of Chicago, moving away from the seedy bus station area and deep into the city, warm sunshine not making our job any easier. "How in the hell did he get to be so damn heavy?" Jacob grunted.

"I thought you had super strength or something?" I wheezed. He was right, Edward was strangely heavy for a guy his size.

"So you know your way to the hospital?" He asked in a wary tone. That was when the though hit me that I really had no idea where the hospital was.

I stopped a passing stranger, a tall man in a suit. "Excuse me sir, could you please tell me the way to Michael Reese Hospital?" I batted my eyelids in hope they would counteract my haggard appearance.

"Why sure, missy." He replied in the most old timey, Pathe movie kind of way. "You need to keep going this way for five blocks, make a left, go that way until you see the church there, and then the hospital will be on you're right, see."

I was astounded. It sounded so very close. "Thank you sir." I said. He tipped his hat, winked and was off. How very helpful. Jacob was sniggering, most likely because of how much he sounded like a reporter or something. I smiled a little myself. Maybe it would have been fun to interact with a few more people from this time, but we couldn't mess around now. The end was in sight.

As we made our way along, now ignoring the funny looks we were getting from passers by, we tried to make idle conversation. Not easy when you are carrying what felt like a bag of lead weights. "You know, all this time travel and such, it makes you wonder." Said Jacob. I looked back, confused. "About the answer." He continued.

"The answer to what, Jake?" I asked, frustrated that he was talking in riddles.

"Oh, you know, the question. The ultimate question." I raised an eyebrow, almost daring him to go on. "Life, the universe and everything?" He said wistfully. I really could have slapped him right there and then but he brought us to a stop and looked up at the street sign. "This is where make a left." He said, all business like. I stared at the sign. 42nd street. Ok, tell me there were no coincidences.

We could see the old building as we approached, a flurry of activity outside as orderlies and nurses worked hard to retrieve the injured and ill from horse drawn ambulances. Compared to the relative calm of the city streets, this was a hive of activity. You wouldn't have known there was a pandemic in place if you didn't go anywhere near the hospital.

Then I saw her, a forlorn figure, standing outside the entrance, Elisabeth Masen, staring at the ground, wearing a simple outfit of slacks and jacket, which for her to be out in public, so shabby, I found hard to take in. As we drew near she looked up, almost sensing our presence. When she saw her son suspended between us, one arm at a strange angle, skin ashen white she let out a tiny shriek and ran to us.

"Elisabeth, what are you doing here?" Jacob asked, reaching out to take her hand. She all but ignored the question.

"What happened to him?" She sobbed.

"Those people." I said, slowly. "They caught up to us, one broke his arm." She started to look around frantically. "We chased them off, they won't be back any time soon." I sounded much more certain than I felt.

"Thank god for that. Let us get him inside." She said, forcefully moving me from under his arm and putting herself there instead.

"Elisabeth, why were you here?" I asked again. "Have you been crying?"

She stopped, standing still for a moment before gesturing to put her son down on a bench. "It's Edward senior." She wept. "I received a telegram, he has contracted the influenza, and will not make it through the night. I spent the last hour with him, and had just come outside for some air."

I hugged her. As dire as the situation sounded, it actually filled me with hope that we could actually make this plan work. I vowed to myself never to time travel again. Playing with the fates of loved ones was just too much for me. This would be the most difficult thing I would ever do.

After we had spent a short while on the bench we decided it was time to get inside. The afternoon sun was still high, but we would need all the time we could get, since our things were still at the Mason house and we couldn't afford to leave them to be found, and it would be nice to be on the train home before nightfall.

At the desk inside the hospital we checked in Edward, his mother explaining about his father, insisting they be situated near to one another. The nurse didn't argue. Surely she should question the idea, with the contagious infection and all. But she seemed incapable of such thought. That was a sobering thought. Had they not put it together yet? As we filled out the forms Elisabeth coughed and spluttered, her already red eyes becoming more bloodshot. She did not sound well. A little part of me died inside.

Then I heard a voice, buttery soft and silky smooth. "Masen? Very well, I shall take care of them" I turned to see a familiar smiling face, blonde hair glowing in the dull waiting area, face far too beautiful for its surroundings. He extended a hand towards Jacob. "Dr Carlisle Cullen, I shall look after your family." He said, and almost instantly Elisabeth fainted into his arms.

I stood by his bed, looking down through my tears. This was it, then. I leaned forward, kissed his pale white forehead and whispered goodbye. It must have been a trick of the light because I thought his eyelids fluttered, but when I looked he was still.

"Bella." Jacob touched my arm. I knew what he meant. It was time to go. We turned to see Carlisle eying us curiously. His eyes glinting golden.

"I get the strangest feeling around you two." He muttered. "Do you own dogs?"

I just smiled a thin smile. "Please look after them." I said. "And do anything his mother asks of you." He nodded, shook our hands and we were gone, leaving him to tend to his newest charges.

As we emerged into the late afternoon sun I wiped away another set of tears. "You realise what we just did, don't you?" I said, Jacob looked at me, confused. "We murdered an entire family."

"Bella, it was their fate." He said, taking my hands. "His dad was already gone, we had no control over that. His mom had the illness, she picked it up meeting his dad, and he would have died from the broken arm. You saw how fast he passed out, how quickly he was fading."

With that he ushered me into a carriage where he gave the driver instructions and told him to hurry. I sat thinking about what he had said. Once we had set things into motion, the only change had been Edward himself. His father was already doomed, and his mother would have gone to the hospital if Edward was there or not, so the only real change we had just made was stopping Edward from joining the army, where would have no doubt died in France. That was grim comfort indeed. But it was all I had right now.

The cab pulled to a stop and it brought me back to myself. Jacob rushed into the house and emerged moments later with our bags, throwing them into the seats and barking for the driver to get us to the station. The light was fading and it was time to go.

We pulled up outside the station as the sun was sliding behind the tallest buildings, an orange fire erupting in the sky. Neither of us had talked during the short ride, both pensive about our task. As we climbed down Jacob muttered "I wish we had a damn time turner." And ushered me into the building and out onto the platform where the familiar form of Quincey Harker stood waiting for us. He did not look surprised to see us.

"Ah, just on time." He proclaimed. "I trust you did what you had to?" I nodded.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"I lost him, tracked him here but the trail is cold. I don't know where he is."

"That could be a problem." I whispered, and then, right on cue, I heard it, a low guttural growl. The three of us turned and looked down the platform, the sun was now gone, its last light still burning in the sky, but the platform was illuminated by the lamps on the wall. And the shadows made the figure seem even more intimidating. The cane was gone, as was the bowler hat and any sense of gentleman. Instead there was a beast. He was backlit in the most peculiar way, an intense bright light behind him, growing with every second, and a cloud of smoke making him look like a rock star on stage. Was I hallucinating? This whole scene was very strange.

Then there was a hiss and the train clanked to a halt. I was tugged on board by Jacobs strong hand, as a tide of bodies switched places between carriages and platform. My eyes remained on our predator, his fixed on mine. He remained on the platform, an insane look about him. I was shocked he had chosen not to attack right then and there. But I would take the win, no matter how small it felt,

No doubt, however, he would soon re appear, to put a spanner in the works


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19 The End of the Line

This train was one of those public carriage ones, so we picked a bunch of seats where nobody else was sitting and fell down into them. I winced at the feel of the hard wood on my back and ass. Then a thought hit me. "Why does he never get on the train?" I asked. "I mean he looked like he lost all sense back there and would have gone after us in daylight given the chance."

Harker mulled over my question for a while before he spoke. He had my full attention the whole time, but Jacob was staring out into the blackness, lost in thought. Then, when he was ready Harker spoke. "Well, the only thing that springs to mind is the many, many years of training." He pulled up. "No, not training, more like indoctrination." He smiled, happy with the word. "And not simply years, but decades, and maybe even centuries of it. All of that has seated so very deeply inside his mind that he just cannot violate the principles by which he lives, even with his mind in tatters."

"Still, careful you must be." Came a voice from the row behind. It was somehow familiar. How could that be. And how could we have let someone hear us? I looked around to see a familiar smiling face. It was my friend from the antique store back in our own time. I racked my brain for a moment, trying to recall his name, while Harker wore a confused look and Jacob still faced the window, possibly dozing.

"Ishmeil?" I asked. He nodded. It was strange. He was still tiny, and he was certainly not as young as he maybe should have been. Sure, the white hair that encircled his bald head was peppery black rather than wispy white, and he maybe had a few less wrinkles on his face, but I was finding it impossible to even do the math and figure out how old he should be.

"Ah, pretty girl should no waste time in worry about Ishmeil and such, no, no." He shook his head playfully. "No, even when safety you reach, then still missing vital ingredient you are, no?" His smile was so wide and playful. Yet somehow I couldn't find any dislike for his mockery, instead he brought my guard tumbling down. Harker, on the other hand, was as stiff as a board.

"Just what on earth?" Asked Harker.

"It's ok Qunicey, I know him. I think" I said, trying my best to sooth the situation. Just then Jacob returned to the real world and looked over, his eyes bulging out of his head.

"No. Freaking. Way." He exclaimed. I gestured for him to keep his voice down and nodded. He looked from me to Ishmeil and back again several times. "And he knows us?"

"Seems to." I said. The little guy came and sat in the empty seat by Jacob, a wide smile splitting his face.

"Oh, Ishmeil knows more than you think Ishmeil knows." He said in his funny accent. "Travel through time, causality, fate. Who is to say what is real, yes?" Now he had the full attention of our group. Harkers face was a mask of pure confusion.

"So you know these people somehow?" He asked, incredulous.

"We met him in our own time." Jacob whispered. "He sold us the stuff we needed to get here in the first place." He turned his attention to Ishmeil. "So how come a younger looking version of him knows us?" Suspicion clouded his voice now.

"All the wrong questions." Ishmeil said indignantly. "But very well. You see time is very fragile thing, and when play with it, then strange things may begin." All three of us were staring, mouths agape. "And yet, time, she is also very solid. She has own ideas of what should be. Fate? Causality? Destiny? Do you believe in space time?" He looked around but none of us spoke. "Science not the answer. No. Time does what time wants." I wished he would get to the point. It felt like he was trying to confuse us, but now his playful tone was gone. "Two days ago, Ishmeil looking through family relics in Manhatten. Find this." He withdrew a battered old steel flask which he carefully opened and showed us the contents. A luminous green sludge.

"Nitrotrinadium." Jacob whispered.

"Ishmeil find way to use this. Finds self in different place with different Ishmeil. He tells me to return to my time, but keeps sample of goo." He was holding the open flask directly under his chin, and the phosphorous glow illuminated his face. Then Ishmeil gets home, and has visit from another Ishmeil. Tells me to come here, now. Give sample to pretty girl."

I'm not going to lie, he had completely lost me, and from the looks on their faces he had lost the other two. He pulled a small tube from his bag and filled it with the substance and corked the tube tightly. Then he handed the tube to me and turned to leave.

"Wait." I said. "Stay with us."

"Oh, even though Ishmeil would love to, he knows he must not." He raised a hand and wiggled his fingers before turning and walking up the train and disappearing through the compartment door into the next. Jacob suddenly jumped up and ran after him. Several minutes later he returned with a very confused look on his face.

"He disappeared." He said in disbelief. "Not, like before my eyes or anything, but he just wasn't there. Looked all the way up the train and there was no sign of him at all. What the hell?"

I held up the tube. "We better keep this safe." I said.

Just then a conductor entered the compartment and all passengers turned to face him. "Attention" He read out at full volume. "Passengers transferring to the Pacific line at Grand Forks, there has been a de-railment at Devils Lake. Staff estimate the next train from Grand Forks heading West will be 24 hours late. Apologies for any inconvenience."

As he moved onward answering questions from other passengers we looked at each other with wide eyes. This must be the work of Howe. Now what were we going to do. It was still a good few hours until we arrived at Grand Forks, and the sun would be high in the sky, but the next train would have been before sunset and now we would be faced with waiting an entire day, leaving us stranded on a station all night, or trying to find some kind of cover.

It was during this time that I wanted time to slow and give me chance to think, when it actually seemed to speed up. Before I knew what was happening we were getting off and stepping onto the platform in Grand Forks, a milky sun hanging overhead casting pale shadows. Things were not good. All the time I had been wracking my brain for a plan the men had been discussing battle tactics. Harker confessed his bag of tricks was running dangerously low on supplies, and Jacob didn't know how much longer he could control the wolf inside of him.

We took a seat out in the sun, its warmth only just penetrating my clothing. Then I noticed him. It may have been the gentle tapping sound that drew my attention, or maybe the aura of foreboding, but whatever the reason I looked off into the shadows of the Eastbound platform and saw a figure hunched in the dark. He held a pipe which he gently tapped on the wall, the hollow tube creating a low echo. His gaze never left me. I looked around to see the platform was now totally clear. Not many people had got off the train here anyway, and those that had were now long gone, presumably in search of a guest house for the night, something we had discussed, but dismissed with the rationale of not wanting to put any civilians at risk.

I elbowed Jacob who followed my gaze, sitting bolt upright when he saw the figure. Harker must have done the same because he fell silent from his musings and became very still. Then a deep voice drifted across the tracks. "Well. Isn't this nice." A low guttural chuckle. "One would almost think the three travellers are waiting for something." A pause longer than eternity. "Waiting for their destiny." There was nothing any one of us could do. He was silent again, except for the gentle tap of the pipe. And that was how it went for the next few hours, as the sun made its way across the sky, finally falling low enough to cast long shadows across the station.

That was when the tapping stopped and the figure vanished. His mind game had worked. All three of us were completely out of sorts with no idea what we were going to do. We had not been able to come up with a plan, and now we were trapped in a situation where we would almost certainly be killed.

And then he was there, on our side. Standing tall, no pipe, no cane, no hat. His formerly immaculate suit crumpled and dirty, his hair wild. The lamplight cast a wicked shadow across his face, accentuating the evil grin. He was going to enjoy this. Jacob looked to me as the three of us stood and faced him. "Hide." He said, and I nodded, not wanting to get in the way. I found a corner and wedged myself into it, watching the whole thing unfold.

Now, I have read many books, and watched many movies, and when they have a big final confrontation the fight scene can last many pages or minutes, rolling back and forth, with the bad guy taking control before ultimately falling in a heroic action of bravery. This was absolutely nothing like that. This was over in a matter of moments. The two men stood side by side before Jacob exploded into wolf form, rushing the vampire who casually threw him to one side. The giant wolf crashed into the nearby wall and hit the floor, struggling to get back up.

The Vampire then closed the gap to the man in the blink of an eye, grabbing him by the throat, but the wolf was now back, leaping and biting at the vampire who this time caught the wolf in the jaw with a powerful fist, sending him sprawling on the floor. Harker had drawn his sword and held it before him as Howe squared up to him from a few feet away. "Finally." Hissed Howe. "I can put an end to your nonsense."

However, he would never get to land a blow, because Harker fell to the ground, hit from behind by an unseen figure, My heart fell, but then lifted as Howes head toppled to the ground followed by his body, a confused look in his eyes. I looked up and there where Howe had been was a man, tall, pale and solid as rock. The mountain looked down at me with no emotion at all. Then several black cloaked figures stepped out of the shadows, and one removed his hood. A pale face, skin almost translucent but dancing eyes filled with crimson. He spoke.

"Isabella. Isabella Swan." He said in a lilting voice, an Italian accent. Behind him were a boy and a girl with blonde hair, obviously twins, and the man mountain. "I see we arrived just in time." He held out a hand which I refused, climbing to my feet by myself.

"Who are you" I asked. He looked familiar but I could not place him.

"My name is Aro, and these are my members of the Volturi guard. We protect and govern the world of the... How should I say it?" He stroked his chin. "Vampires." He smiled, a self satisfied smile. "Our world is secret and this is how it must be. We cannot have rouges like this one threatening to reveal our existence to the world by going around attacking people and de railing trains." He tutted. "Now, since you are the only one of your group who has seen us, I trust you can keep this to yourself?"

I nodded, confused. "Why do you let me live?" I asked.

"Ahhh, you see I feel something important about you. And should we meet again, be it in a day, a week or a hundred years, it must be treated as a surprise so that all those not present here and now do not know of our meeting tonight." And with that he turned in a flourish, pulling up his hood. "And now I must bid you farewell Isabella Swan." He turned to look at me once more, flanked by the man mountain and the twins, and that is when it hit me where I had seen him. The painting in the Cullen house. Carlisle and his previous life. These knew him. I wanted to call them back and ask them a million questions but I dare not, and by the time I regained my senses they were gone, replaced by the groans of my companions.

So what the hell was I supposed to tell them?


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20 Back to the Beginning

It was mid morning in Grand Forks. The sun was casting a golden glow into the train station where I was sat with Jacob and Harker, the two men enjoying a breakfast of coffee and cookies. When the dust had settled the night before I had somehow dragged them to a bench and gotten them comfortable. Jacob had woken first, while the moon was still high. He had asked what had happened and I told him I would have to fill him in later. Then just before dawn Harker came around and asked how he came to be here. He actually thought he was dead for a while, but I informed him all was well. I cooked up some story about how Howe had somehow fallen on the train tracks as a locomotive had rushed past, putting an end to him, and lucky for me the Englishman swallowed the story, probably because he was suffering concussion.

The two men had spent most of the early hours in a daze, and when the station staff finally arrived I was able to coax them inside with the promise of food and drink. Now they seemed much more alive thanks to sugar and caffeine. And to top things off there had been an announcement that our train would be along in the next hour.

So we sat together and enjoyed our final few moments as a group in silence before the station was disturbed by a small crowd of travellers arriving for the morning train. We stood and walked together to the platform, where we stopped, a cloud of steam filling the air from the train that had just arrived. Harker took my hand.

"Isabella Swan, I thank you for your help on this adventure." He said earnestly.

"Quincey, we wouldn't have stood a chance without you." I replied. Jacob stepped up and took his hand in a manly handshake.

"Yeah, we're gonna miss you bro, this would have been a lot more impossible without you."

Harker looked us both in the eye. "I would also no doubt be long dead without you. And I thank you for sharing your tales of your own time, these I shall carry with me for all of my days."

He smiled a sad smile and backed away as we moved toward the train. "Goodbye Quincey, live a great life." I said as I stepped aboard. He raised a hand and then was gone, swallowed by the steam.

Our journey had been quiet. Jacob had spent long periods of time staring at me, and I assumed he was trying to extract the true story of the night's events. "We were rescued." I said as we were only an hour away from our last stop. "By someone so unlikely I don't even believe it myself, and if I told you it would make me see how unlikely it really is." His smile dropped. I knew this wouldn't keep him off my back for ever but it would do for now.

The long horse ride from Port Angeles to Forks and then on to La Push was quiet, and I wondered if he would ever speak to me again. Then we arrived outside Quil's house and he helped me down to the ground. "Ok" He sighed. "I get it, you won't tell me. That's fine. But one question." I looked at him quizzically. "Was I awesome in battle?" I nodded and gave him a hug. He hugged me back long and hard. This was what adventure was all about, bringing us closer together.

"Come on." I said. "Let's go home."

Inside the dark house Quil was waiting, and he asked us to sit, once more, cross legged on the floor. He allowed a moments silence to fill the air, hanging as heavy as the curls of smoke from his pipe. Then he raised his eyes to me and spoke. "It is done?" I nodded once. "Very well. And those who would stop you?"

"Dead." I whispered. "Well... dead again..."

He smiled a knowing smile. "I understand. And the future, your present, it is intact." He said slowly, looking into the distance. Jacob made a face as though a realisation had smacked him between the eyes.

"So, wait just one second." He said, mulling over his words. "It occurred to me just now that Shovelface probably wouldn't have gone to that hospital if we hadn't turned up." I thought about it and looked on as he continued to riff. Quill also remained silent. "So you could say we kinda came here to put our own present in place, y'know, giving him to Carlisle and all that." He was picking up speed. "Which means time is cyclic. Sarah Connor principle. If we hadn't come back then we wouldn't have set things in motion, and wouldn't have wanted to come here in our own time." My head was starting to spin, and I wasn't sure if it was the theory or the smoke. Quill took a deep draw on the pipe, probably to help him ignore Jacob. "So it's kind of a paradox. And we were never in any real danger." Just then a knife landed point end down in the floor right between Jacobs legs. We all looked up to see Quil's wife with a tray of food and a very guilty expression. Jacob was transfixed on the knife as it wobbled just a few inches from his crotch. That would have been ironic.

A few hours later we stood in the barn, Quil and his buddies including Ephram Black surrounded us, and we shook hands with each in turn, thanking them for their help. One of the younger guys was sitting on a bicycle which was rigged up to our machine, and he started to peddle furiously, making the lights on the display turn on. Jacob tapped a few keys and opened a small hatch, pouring in the Nitrotrinadium we had been given. The inside began to glow bright green. This was it.

"Well guys, it's been real." He said to the group. "Thanks for everything."

"I'll always remember you." I said, looking at Quil, but speaking to all of them.

"Lets hope this thing doesn't turn us inside out." Jacob whispered as he took my hand and lead me to the door. We looked back, gave a wave and stepped into the green light.

The world went super bright green, then was black. Then there was a pop and a fizzle and we jumped out of the machine just in time to witness it collapse in on itself in a ball of smoke. "I guess that saves us the trouble of destroying it." I said.

We stood and dusted ourselves down, looking around. The barn seemed unchanged in the darkness. I was suddenly unsure if it had even been day or night when we left 1917. Wow. My head was fuzzy and I had that feeling you get when you wake at four am because you heard a noise. How odd.

We stepped out into the night air and I felt immediate relief at seeing an electric light illuminating the porch in front of the black house. And there was my truck, parked up not far away. I turned and whispered to Jacob "Call me in the morning" and climbed in my truck, trying to make as little noise as possible with my apocalyptic engine. I watched his waving figure diminish into the distance and then there was just darkness behind me.

At last I slipped into bed, worn out from the adventure. I knew it would not take long to find sleep that night.


	21. Chapter 21

Epilogue

That night had been the last I would see Jacob for a while, as Billy Black began screening my calls to him. However, I did get some interesting items from the mail man.

Dearest Bella,

I trust this has found you well, and alive back in your true home. I write you now, as I enter my twilight years to inform you of the lasting impression you left upon me. I was able to vanquish many more foes in my life, and yet my greatest achievement was my marriage to my loving wife, Annabelle who gave me a son, Peter.

I fought in the War against the Nazis, and the many undead who used the bloodshed as cover for their activity, but in the end your courage and bravery were most vital to my survival on the battlefield.

Those who decided they should govern time were a difficult proposition, but I finally rid the world of all of them. Each more cunning and devious than the last. They took my leg, but I took their head.

I ask that you should live a long and love filled life, as I have. And I shall rest, here in Whitby, for all time.

Forever yours, Quincey Harker.

Miss Isabella Swan,

Your discretion regarding that July night long ago has not, and will not be forgotten. Things have been put into place to bring your dear love back to you, just as they were arranged for you to meet in the first place.

Your continued silence on this matter is appreciated. There may be a time in the near future that you may feel a need to reveal those events to those around you. I must implore you not to.

The very fabric of life itself may rest upon it.

Until next we meet.

Aro

Volutura

Italy

 **And there it is. I might have to revisit this idea, cos I like it.**

 **thoughts and comments welcome.**

 **Thanks for reading.**


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